Little Lessons on Parenting in Space and Time
by c1araoswa1d
Summary: After finding and rescuing a baby girl, the Doctor and Clara find themselves raising her while searching for her parents. A collection of tales inspired by Tumblr Whouffle Prompts.
1. Introduction

I received the first prompt for this story many moons ago. Someone asked for a 'twist' on the regularly used 'The Doctor and Clara find a baby' and as I had recently read, or started to read, one where the baby magically turned out to be their own my 'twist' became that she was not. She was simply a baby they stumbled upon in a Cyberman factory and rescued.

Soon enough, I had a growing list of prompts for 'Baby Ella' in my Tumblr inbox and have been fulfilling them when time allows. Of course, the prompts were not in order, so I questioned how to best post them on and and honestly, there is no 'best way' to do this.

It's timey-wimey.

A bit wibbly-wobbly.

Like a scrapbook that's come loose in the hands of a curious toddler, Ella's time with the Doctor and Clara – a baby girl's story that quickly became a family's story – is coming back together out of order. It's being written out of order. And I offer monstrous apologies for any holes in the narrative as I'm doing my best to keep track of it, but I know I won't always succeed.

Each chapter contains Ella's age, or closest estimation of it, and the title. Feel free to try to read it in order, but know more chapters are coming. At some point the prompts will taper off, or I'll choose to end the story, but until then: happy reading.


	2. 08 MO - The New Norm

**08 Months Old**

Clara lifted the little girl into her arms, listening to her babble, chubby fists holding her hair tightly as she made her way out of the girl's makeshift nursery and out towards the console where the Doctor was tapping at a screen and making a face of discontent. She smiled when the girl squealed at the sight of him and she blushed when he turned and looked at the two of them with bright eyes and a wide smile.

"Ella is pleased you've learned to come when called," the Doctor teased.

Looking at the girl who dropped her head onto her shoulder, Clara sighed and responded, "Ella is going to have to learn to take a longer nap so Auntie Clara can get laundry done."

With a frown, the Doctor asked, "Is the Tardis still moving the rooms?"

Nodding, Clara groaned, "I think they conspire against me," she looked from the glowing tubes to the little girl smirking at her. "We're going to need more formula, she's gone through almost the whole supply."

"That was four months worth!" He gasped.

Clara raised her eyebrows and reminded, "It's been four months."

Hands slipping off the controls beside him, the Doctor asked quietly, "It's been four months?"

"Ya," she shot as Ella hummed against her.

"You've been on the Tardis for four months?" He questioned.

For a moment, Clara thought he was addressing the child and she waited, rocking the girl gently until she glanced up and saw him staring at her and she stopped, awkward grin tilting her lips up as she told him, "Yes, Doctor, I've been on the Tardis for four months."

He glanced back at the screen as Ella mumbled something that made him chuckle.

"It's not fair," Clara moped, "You've both got me at a disadvantage here."

Shaking his head, he turned, "Quite the contrary, Clara – she _prefers_ you."

"_Prefers_ me?" Clara spat incredulously, looking to the girl who was now watching her, large green eyes searching hers as she smiled innocently. "She keeps me up half the night, cries so I can never get anything done without her hanging off my hip, and then tells you everything she's thinking."

Ella squealed and then giggled. The Doctor laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Says she prefers mum."

Shifting forward, Clara told him blankly, "Have you been calling me mum? I told you it wasn't a funny joke, she's impressionable at this age – we need to find her real mum and dad."

He turned, looking insulted before telling her, "Clara, _she_ calls you mum."

"If she calls me mum, _what are you_?"

"_Not_ mum," he replied sadly.

Ella released her hair and tugged at the edge of her blouse as the Doctor turned and ran a hand over the barely-there covering of reddish brown hair that curled slightly at the base of her neck. "Have you had any luck? Any luck at all?"

"No," he told her with a sigh of frustration. "I've checked the planet we found her on a dozen times a day, and when I say a dozen times a day, I mean through a multitude of days, months, years – just to make sure. There are no missing persons reports, no distraught parents, nothing about where she might be from or who she might belong to."

Ella yawned and then let out a series of small babbles.

"_Oh_," he called.

Clara nodded and asked, "Oh, what?"

"Oh, she says she's not missing."

"What do you mean, _not missing_?"

He smiled, slightly, and grinned at Clara as she considered him. "You've really been on the Tardis for four months?" He asked her again.

Clara rolled her eyes and moved around the console to the second screen and she began typing with one hand, deftly holding Ella to her with the other and the Doctor crossed his arms at his chest. There was nothing unnatural about the sight in front of him anymore. He could remember the first night, when Clara paced around the console cradling the baby in her arms, desperately pleading with her to stop crying while the Doctor poked a finger, alternately, in each ear as he worked.

_ "__She doesn't like the Tardis noise!"_

_ "__Everyone likes the Tardis noise!"_

_ "__Well then, you're the one who speaks baby, what's wrong!?"_

_ "__She wants to go home."_

_ "__Baby, I _want_ to _take you_ home!" Clara had told her._

_ "__Hmph, she says her name is Ella, not baby."_

Clara glanced up at him as she keyed in the coordinates for Earth. She half-smiled at him and then huffed out a laugh before holding tight to the edge of the board in front of her, nuzzling Ella as the girl giggled and they flew through the vortex. Landing softly, and quietly, Clara rounded the console and nodded at him, "Alright then, four more months."

"You know," he told her reluctantly, "We could take her to an orphanage."

With disgust, Clara began walking towards the front doors, shouting back, "She's not going to an orphanage." Then she glanced back and encouraged, "Well, come on, _daddy_."

Ella straightened and pointed at him and when she uttered a simple, "Dada," Clara stopped, looking to the girl who continued to talk to the man slowly making his way towards them with a shy grin and reddened cheeks.

"What did she say?" Clara asked.

The Doctor reached out, but Ella smiled deviously and clamped onto Clara as he informed her, "She says if mummy says I'm daddy, then I must be daddy."

Clara turned and grinned up at him, head tilted back slightly and she narrowed her eyes at him, "What did she tell you before – when she told you she wasn't missing?"

His blush darkened and he averted his eyes a moment before admitting, "Guess four months is long enough for her to consider the Tardis her home."


	3. 08 MO - Only the Essentials

**08 Months Old**

Clara looks from her cart, to her list, to the man swaying slightly with the baby girl strapped to his chest and she laughs because he's humming and making odd faces at items on the shelf to try and entertain the girl whose simply hanging limp in the sling, legs occasionally kicking at his stomach. She imagines the girl is trying to make sense of the objects in front of her – she's only been to a supermarket on Earth twice and this was the second time; a second trip to pick up supplies after four months aboard the Tardis.

It only takes that thought to jump start her heart as she lets her gaze drift back up to the man who's making noises of appreciation at some package of crackers before tossing them into the cart. It'd been twenty minutes that way, her checking off essentials and him throwing in things that _look interesting_.

"You're not going to eat those," Clara points out, gesturing down at the crackers and watching his eyebrows rise as he turns to look at her and she huffs a laugh at the green eyes at his chest that give her the same surprised stare before they relax into the baby's happy grin. One she returns instantly.

"Says they have a hint of lemon. Hint of lemon _on crackers_."

"You make sour faces at lemon flavored things," she tells him, watching the way he drops his mouth open, as though she weren't supposed to notice, and it surprises Clara that she even has noticed. He hates wine, has an affinity for overly sweet soft drinks, and looks at bacon as though the devil placed it on his plate himself.

He points, "But they're crackers."

"And… _put them back_," she scolds. Then she sighs because she knows they'll never make it back to the Tardis before nightfall if he continues to help her, so she touches his elbow to get his attention before letting her fingers give Ella's right leg a small squeeze, just enough for the girl to smile at the caress. "Why don't you walk her about, find a nice package of wipes, maybe some detergent, and meet me back in produce?"

"You're getting rid of me," he says plainly, but there's a grin on his face as his hands land on Ella's tummy and the girl glances up at him, "You're getting rid of us." It's supposed to make her feel guilty, but she holds her hands out to the girl who begins jerking in the sling in her direction.

With a nod, she allows, "Hand her over then, I'll manage just fine."

Clara smiles when he shifts away defensively and spits, "You carry her all the time in the Tardis," then he looks to Ella as she babbles, "Mummy does too," he tells the girl before turning swiftly, "Wipes and detergent; meet you by produce."

She laughs as she watches him continue back down the aisle, that swagger in his step as he bends his head forward and she knows he's talking to the girl. Clara sighs and grips the cart with one hand while lifting the list into the other and she pushes on.

"I am not," the Doctor tells the baby now slapping her hands awkwardly together. "Sometimes you have to chuck your list and work off your stomach and mine is…" he turns abruptly. "Look at these, Ella," he gestures. "Shortbread, lady fingers, chocolate, mint, jam… ah!" Raising a finger, he drops it onto the bright red long package before lifting it up to give to the baby reaching. "Jammie Dodgers."

Ella shakes her head and drops the package.

"Ella!" He gasps as a woman walks past him, giving him an awkward look before continuing on. "Well, now we have to buy them, you've broken them," he mutters happily as he presses a secure hand to her stomach to bend and pick the cookies up.

The baby cranes her neck up and spits at him before pointing wildly and squealing.

"She will not be angry."

Ella complains.

"Mummy will not be angry, Ella; she'll be amused." He smiles and then the girl shakes her head. "She will be; they're Jammie Dodgers – I'll eat Jammie Dodgers. Clara eats," Ella interrupts him with a shout before he corrects, "Ok… _mummy_ eats Jammie Dodgers."

The girl pouts and kicks him. Another woman passes him a glance, but this one more sympathetic. Ella giggles at her and waves an arm.

"I know they think I'm strange," the Doctor whispers, "But, to be perfectly honest, they're not all that normal themselves." Then he shifts down the aisle, "Oh, Ella, we definitely need these." He hands her the bag of pink marshmallows.

She stares at them for a moment and then drops them with a string of frustrated syllables that end with a loud and wet raspberry. Followed by an amused chuckle.

The Doctor picks the bag up and settles it back down on the shelf with a humph and replies, "Well I suppose mummy will be upset if we come back with those. _Non-essential_, she'd call it." Ella argues. "Fine," the Doctor spits, "Wipes and detergent it is!" He begins trudging out of the aisle, but holds tight to his cookies, telling her, "But we're getting the Jammie Dodgers."

Ella giggles and then twists her head upwards to tell him, "'K, dadda."


	4. 10 MO - First Steps

**10 Months Old**

There was a quick moment where Clara questioned whether the Doctor offered to take her and Ella to a park on Earth for his own amusement. It had come just after they'd landed, when she'd walked out to find her and the baby a spot in the shade to set up a blanket, and the Doctor had gleefully rushed off towards the jungle gym, awkwardly sinking into the sand it sat on as he made his way towards swings and gained odd looks from other parents.

After a long sigh and a half smile in his direction, Clara looked back at the baby slapping her leg repeatedly, calling, "Mumma, Mumma."

She leaned into the girl, hand coming up to smooth back strands of the dark auburn hair now filling in on her head and she whispered, "Yes, baby."

"Mumma," she said again, fingers scratching gently into her skin as she babbled and shook her head, then squealed and pointed at the Doctor.

With a small chuckle, Clara nodded and told her plainly, "He's a silly old man, that Doctor."

Ella pressed her lips together tightly and grinned, bright eyes disappearing as her mouth opened slightly to giggle. Clara pulled her up into her arms, squishing her in a hug as she kissed at her neck and cheeks and Ella planted her hands on Clara's face in response, mouth open and ready to return the affection with a few wet sloppy kisses of her own just beside Clara's nose.

"Clara," the Doctor asked, falling just at her feet and giving Ella an amusing wide-eyed look, mouth agape, as the girl laughed, "A few of the mothers are pulling their children off the slides, they say there's a questionable fellow lurking about and I was thinking maybe we should find another place to take her."

Watching him glance around, concerned, Clara reached out gave his knee a pat, earning his attention so she could tell him quietly, "Doctor, _you're the questionable fellow_."

His brow wrinkled and he stretched out, leaning his elbow to the ground as he planted his face in his hand and he frowned, sighing, "I'm not questionable."

Ella mumbled and he pointed and she spat, "Dadda."

"She says it's odd for grownups to be on the playground," he offered to Clara before telling Ella, "You know _sometimes_, being a grownup is no fun at all."

He pointed and opened his mouth, but Clara immediately interrupted with, "No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

Lifting one eyebrow, she nodded, "You were going say we could visit a planet with adult playgrounds."

"Clara…" he whined.

"Doctor, she's a baby – bit young to be gallivanting across the universe."

He shook his head and pouted. "Well she'll be a year soon – almost a toddler by Earth standards."

"Wow." Clara shifted, tucking her legs underneath her and she set Ella down in front of her, smiling when the girl gripped at her thumbs and stood, grinning up at her. "It's hard to believe it's been six months."

"We've had her for six months," the Doctor repeated under his breath and Clara glanced up at him to find him smirking at the blanket under him. Then he raised his eyes to her and nodded, "You've been a mum for six months, Clara Oswald."

Shaking her head lightly, Clara corrected, "More like a nanny. Doctor," she told him plainly, "She has a mother out there – and a father."

He watched Ella as she turned in his direction and gave him a tiny smirk. One with her head slightly bowed, left corner of her lips tugging up – the smirk Clara gave him when he was being silly and she was secretly enjoying it. "We've been looking for months; we found her in a Cyberman facility… chances are, Clara, her parents were killed and they were in the process of figuring out what to do with her."

Clara lifted her hands slightly, watching the girl turn back to look at her, feet stomping in place, more firmly than just a few days before. It amazed her just how quickly her girl was growing. Clara straightened, correcting herself – _the girl, not _her_ girl_. She smiled for Ella as she asked the Doctor, "You did scan her for cyber bugs. Don't want some version of Mr. Clever turning up in her head just as we're trying to potty train her."

And the notion made her take a long breath because she realized she'd been thinking, again, of long-term goals for Ella. She'd already been entertaining the thought of her schooling – something she was qualified to do herself – and she wondered, sometimes after the girl had gone to sleep, whether she'd be better off growing up on Earth. Clara closed her eyes a moment because she'd been thinking about adopting her.

Making Ella her proper daughter. Ella Oswald.

"Scanned and tickle checked," he nodded, raising his fingers and curling them at the girl who squealed with knowing laughter, her body twisting slightly towards Clara in preparation for the man who often spent nights on a stool, just beside the small crib in Clara's bedroom, telling her stories as she slept.

"No, dadda," Ella laughed, and he grinned goofily as he settled his hands together on the blanket, watching Clara encourage the girl to dance for her.

Ella released one thumb and twirled her hand in the air, legs pumping beneath her until she heard the Doctor's laugh at her motions and she turned towards him, taking one step away from Clara and then opening her fingers to call out to him and swing her other leg around. Clara's hands came up on either side of her as Ella stood there, chuckling at the Doctor, her small hands clapping three times before reaching for him and tentatively taking two steps towards him.

"Look at you!" The Doctor cried, holding his palms out, ready to catch the girl who took two more quick steps and landed between his hands with a noise of contentment. With a laugh, the Doctor sat up and he raised Ella into the air, bringing her down to nuzzle, making growling noises into her stomach as she released a high-pitched shout of glee and gripped at his hair.

The tear rolled over Clara's cheek before she realized she'd been crying and she reached up to swipe away the moisture just as the Doctor settled Ella back down, facing Clara, and whispered in her hear, "Go to mummy, Ella."

"Mummy," Ella repeated, pressing her lips tightly together as she held her arms out and this time, instead of slow and steady steps, she hurriedly rushed across the space, falling against Clara's midsection and hugging her tightly as Clara rubbed at her back.

The Doctor nodded to her. "You're _not_ her _nanny_," he told her quietly.

"Oh my goodness, Clara, she's precious!" The words startled her and the infant at her side turned sharply, eyebrows raised high, to look at the woman approaching.

Clara gave a small nervous laugh as she lifted Ella into her lap and held her securely, stuttering, "Hey, hi, Shelly, what are you doing here?"

The woman gestured at a man ushering a small boy onto the playground and then she glanced back down at her to explain, "Just bringing Geoff – I didn't know you had a baby."

Looking down at Ella, who grinned back up at her, Clara nodded slowly as the girl chuckled knowingly. The girl who sang with her in the morning and stubbornly cried herself to sleep; the girl who clapped as she ate and blew raspberries when she was upset; the girl who insisted on holding her wrist as she read her stories and splashed and giggled through a bath.

The girl who owned her heart.

"Yeah," Clara affirmed, "This is my daughter, Ella."

Shelly looked from Clara to the Doctor as he smiled at Clara and Clara could see the curiosity in her eyes; the question she was hesitant to ask. She took a breath to begin trying to explain when Ella pointed a chubby finger at the Doctor and said plainly, "Dadda."

There was a moment of silence and then a round of awkward chuckling and Shelly pointed to her husband and son and nodded, "Should get over there; you know dads, always trying ridiculous stunts."

Clara let out a sharp laugh and tossed the Doctor a knowing look before nodding and waving the woman off, looking back at the girl leaned back against her chest. "What do you say, Ella?" She offered, adding with a nod, "Me, your mum."

Turning herself over, she reached up and poked at Clara's face and then giggled, "Mummy." And Clara picked the girl up into a hug, feeling her lay her head against her shoulder, small arms wrapping around her neck comfortably because they'd grown accustomed to Clara just as much as she'd grown used to the child in her arms.

The Doctor shifted to sit next to her and he gave her shoulder a rub as she told him, "I'm a mum," and then laughed with him as he corrected,

"You're Ella's mum," then he poked the girl's nose and added, "If it's alright by you, I'd like to continue being her dad," and he waited, watching Clara with expectant eyes.

Clara smiled and she told him firmly, "You've been her dad for six months, Doctor."


	5. 09 MO - Imprinted

**09 Months Old**

"Mumma."

Clara blinked awake and stared up at the ceiling, taking a long breath because it feels like day time, but there are no windows to explain to her senses whether it is or not. With an awkward smile, she supposed she'd gotten used to it, having been on the Tardis five months straight, stepping off only for occasional trips into markets, or walks in parks. She knew, despite the Doctor's speeches and requests and that one time he fell to his knees and begged as Ella fumbled with her earring, it was just too dangerous for the little girl to be travelling with them.

She should have had him drop her off on Earth a long time ago. Clara could have continued to care for her there as the Doctor continued to search for her parents. But they both knew – it would be next to impossible for her to keep a child who wasn't documented and wasn't her own on Earth. She lifted a tired arm up and dropped it onto her forehead, rubbing lightly and offering the quiet room another sigh.

"Mumma."

"Yes, baby," she answered absently, swinging her arm away to turn her head and look to the infant propped up against the bars of her crib, instantly smiling and giving her a squeal of excitement. One that makes her exhale a laugh roughly through her nose before she kicks the sheets off and goes to retrieve the girl. "How about," she started as she lifted her up, "Five more minutes in Auntie Clara's bed?"

She took the child back to settle into her sheets, watching the green eyes that peered up at her from where she laid beside her, head resting against her arm, fingers searching out the patterns on her nighty. "Mumma."

"Auntie," Clara told her.

But Ella shook her head and giggled. "Mumma."

The Doctor had teased her, after they'd been on board the Tardis a few weeks – told her she'd become a proper mum to Ella and he'd explained to the child jokingly that mummy was doing a good job. She sighed, wondering if somehow, _somehow_, that one little joke had wormed its way into the girl's mind and when it'd been long enough for the memory of her actual mother to fade, she'd simply replaced that space with Clara.

"Mum," Ella squeaked.

"Auntie," Clara corrected.

Ella only smiled.

She eyed the girl, raising a hand to absently stroke at the soft strands of hair atop her head as she babbled up at her in familiar tones she knew the Doctor understood and for a moment she wished he were there – like he often was – just peering into the room at them. Ella yawned and Clara nodded, "Time to get up."

The baby hummed.

"You," she told her, picking her up as she straightened to sit on the edge of the bed. "Have to learn to call me Auntie," she shook her head, "I'm not mummy – we have to find your mummy."

Reaching out for her face, Ella smiled as she touched her lips and then pressed her fingers into them and Clara pretended to eat them, watching the girl let out an excited exhale as she tugged her hand away and then laughed at her. And she gave her that look. One she was getting very used to; one that was breaking her heart. She gave her a daughter's look to her mother, so filled with adoration and trust that Clara had to turn away.

"_Auntie_ Clara," she told the girl, "Thinks it's time for you to get a change and some new clothes – find the Doctor and maybe, _maybe_, let him take us somewhere nice."

Ella tilted her head and looked to the door, uttering, "Dadda?"

"Doctor," Clara sighed, repeating slowly, "Doc. Tor."

Shaking her head roughly, Ella screamed, "_Mumma dadda_!"

When the girl looked back at her, Clara felt her words get caught in her throat, seeing the redness in Ella's eyes and the way her bottom lip jutted out just before the baby dissolved into tears. It was only a moment later, the Doctor was rushing around the corner into the room, looking down at Clara as she comforted the girl, crying herself.

"We have to find her parents," Clara ordered on a shaky voice.

He knelt in front of her, one hand on Ella's back, the other on Clara's bare knee. And it should have shocked her, but she'd gotten used to more than just differentiating between day and night on the Tardis, and having a baby waking her at all hours, and nappies and bottles and onsies. Clara had grown used to the Doctor's surprising intimacy and as his thumb slowly stroked her skin, she shook her head at him and buried her face in the girl's neck.

"Clara, I'm still searching, but you know as well as I do…" he began.

"I can't do this," she murmured.

His laughter was soft, gently, and he lifted up to sit on the bed next to her, urging her into his side as Ella peered up at him, hearing his voice and giving him a welcome smile. "Hello, Ella," then he told her, "Clara, you're doing beautifully."

"Mumma," Ella called, a pout settled on her lips.

Her head came up automatically, "Yes, baby." Then she shook it and frowned, "_Auntie_, Ella, I'm _Auntie Clara_ and this is _the Doctor_."

Ella's pout intensified and her face began to crumple again, head dropping into Clara's collar and the Doctor listened as the baby mumbled, body stiffening slightly before he offered, "Clara, she thinks you're rejecting her."

"I'm not," Clara pleaded quietly, looking up at him to see the sad look in his eyes, then she hugged Ella and kissed her temple, "I'm not, Ella, I'm not."

And she replied shakily, "Mumma?"

Clara felt the Doctor's hand squeeze her shoulder and she told him, "I don't want her to lose her mum. _Her mum_, Doctor –," and her voice broke as the Doctor nodded.

"I understand, _I do_, but in her mind… _all of this time with you_… you've been with her longer than her own mother had. She's imprinted on you, on the both of us, and until she's old enough to understand, or until we do find her family, it might be best – for her sake – to _play along_."

"Play house," Clara laughed, watching Ella pick at her own fingers before peering up at her.

The Doctor gave Clara a small nudge, "Isn't that what we've been doing, all of this time?"

Clara raised an eyebrow at him and he tilted his head into her. With a sigh, Clara kissed Ella again and she whispered quietly, "Ella, do you want to walk with… mummy?"

The girl clapped her hands together and her small body shifted into hers, holding to her as Clara stood and drifted out into the corridor, feeling the Doctor a few steps behind. Play along, she thought to herself as she rocked the girl gently. It was what she'd been afraid of, that last line drawn between _the baby_ who needed to be rescued and _the daughter_ she'd been raising. She looked down at Ella as she rested comfortably against her chest, hand holding to the strap of her nightgown and she listened to the Doctor's footsteps behind her.

"Let's play a game, Ella," she told her quietly, watching her turn her eyes up.

The girl smiled and replied, "Mumma dadda."

Clara laughed, "Yes, mumma, dadda, and Ella are going to play."


	6. 10 MO - Past Lives

**10 MONTHS OLD**

They decided Ella's first trip should be to a place on Earth… in a different time, of course. Clara had been adamant it be safe and familiar and the Doctor had replied, "I know just the time," with a smile the baby girl giggled at. He gave her button nose a small tap with his forefinger before touching the controls and adding, "And the place."

Clara shouldn't have been surprised it was Victorian London and she hurried to the wardrobe to find an appropriate dress, looking down at the infant crawling within a length of a colorful scarf before dropping onto it to pull it into her face, mumbling 'dadda'. She picked the girl up, wrapped in stripes of alternating colors and Clara laughed, telling her softly, "We'll have to pick up something for you."

A few minutes later they were strolling through the old city streets, Ella still bundled in the old Doctor's scarf, something he was oddly proud of, and Clara smiled when he absently landed his palm to the small of her back as he lead them around. They were searching for a store in which to buy Ella a dress, something more period appropriate, when Clara heard her name, shouted by a young male voice that cracked with the change of age, and just a bit of shock.

Turning, she peered into wide eyes that searched hers and there was some sort of recognition in the back of her mind before he smiled, taking a few small rushed breaths before shouting back, "Francesca! Frannie, you won't believe who I found!"

"Digby?" Clara questioned curiously, glancing up at the Doctor's worried face just as the boy turned back from where he'd been craning his neck to see back to her eyes, realization dawning before Clara whispered, "Don't… we can explain."

"You died," Francesca spat harshly, face reddening as she approached and Clara looked them both over quickly, seeing the years that had passed in Digby's height and Francesca's body – at least a few had passed since their governess had fallen from a cloud and slipped away in their home. "We saw you; we buried you!"

The Doctor stepped between them and he bent slightly to meet the girl's gaze, telling her quietly, "Come with us and we'll explain."

They ushered them into an alleyway and the Doctor began slowly, a simple, "This is going to sound a bit mad," but they both waited and he looked to Clara, who was rocking Ella lightly in her arms, before he dove into their story, beginning with how a Time Lord came across a renegade Dalek and ending with stepping out of his time stream and continuing on their adventures together and when he finally went silent, they both stared at the two teenagers who were considering their story with small identical nods of their heads before they looked to one another.

"Dad did say he thought he saw her that one time," Digby offered lightly.

Francesca wrinkled her brow and turned, "In Sweetville?" Then she scoffed, "He also said he was dipped in red poison and stored in a glass case."

Raising a finger, the Doctor smiled, "Your father _wasn't_ lying."

Clara nodded and then tilted her head to admit, "We _were_ there."

Digby was the first to smile, taking a small step forward with the want to hug his former governess before stopping himself and grinning shyly at the ground. He glanced up to tell her, "Well, I'm glad you're alive."

The girl at his side looked away and then asked, "So you didn't die and you never thought to come and tell us?"

"We weren't supposed to cross paths again," Clara said with a look of frustration at the Doctor before softening to tell the girl, "It seemed easier to let time sort of settle itself." Then she nodded, "So then, Digby – are you still drawing?"

He straightened and she smiled because he was now taller than her, but his awkward smile remained the same as he nodded quickly and told her, "Everyone says I'm getting quite good; father even has the portrait I made of you hung in our library."

Lips momentarily falling into a trembling frown, Clara forced them back up as she shifted her attention to the young woman at his side, trying to catch her eye to ask, "Francesca?"

She closed her eyes a moment before opening them to meet hers, "I write stories that get me into trouble." The girl stared at Clara, sighing before a small grin perked up the right corner of her mouth and she elaborated, "Snowmen who eat people; ice governesses who attack children in the night… that sort. Dad says I should try something more ladylike, but I quite like the genre."

Ella squealed and then sighed and the pair in front of them looked to her curiously before glancing up at Clara and Digby gestured, "Do you take care of her now?" Francesca nudged him slightly and he spat, "What?"

"We rescued Ella," Clara admitted as Ella lifted two sections of scarf to press into her cheeks.

"Mumma pay?"

Clara's mouth dropped open slightly to add, "We rescued her five months ago."

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck as the Latimers stared at the baby now pointing and calling out to him and he admitted, "We've_ sort of _adopted her."

Digby laughed and then nodded, "Good, you were an excellent governess; I imagine you're a great mother." Francesca elbowed him again. "_What_!"

Clara imagined he'd been told not to be forward, as Digby could be forward, and she merely chuckled at him, stepping forward and pulling him into a hug he accepted happily. "Sometimes it's good to eschew the formalities," Clara told him quietly when he eyed her curiously. "You'll be a brave man one day, change the world around you and it'll be better for it."

Francesca gave Digby's arm a tug and she raised her chin, "If we're eschewing formalities, I'd like a turn."

Handing Ella to the Doctor as the girl mumbled her disapproval, Clara drew the tall girl into a tight hug, remembering late night conversations and quiet giggles shared in the garden. She listened to Francesca sigh into her shoulder and she felt guilty for leaving them, even though she knew it wasn't her fault… there was no real way for her to step back into all of her echoes lives to tie up loose ends.

"I've missed you," the girl admitted, voice barely audible.

Clara drew her aside and stepped away, hands smoothing over the girl's reddish hair and swiping at the tears rolling slowly over her cheeks. She'd told her once she loved her and Clara had returned the sentiment, a small secret they exchanged she knew they shouldn't have – children should study from their governesses, not look to them as mothers, except she also knew how common it was. How do you help raise a child and not feel bonded to them, even over a short time.

"Dad found us a new governess," Francesca told her quietly, "She's nice. Thinks my stories are strange, but she encourages me to continue writing them. He's sad sometimes – I think he hung Digby's drawing so he could look at it when he was lonely, like you're still at the house."

With a nod, Clara reached for her hands. "I can't come back," she sighed, watching the girl nod.

Then she smiled, "Ella is a very lucky girl. Digby's right – you're probably a great mother."

Feeling her cheeks go red, she gripped the girl's fingers and then tilted her head to ask, "What are you two up to right now?"

"Supposed to be picking up supplies for schooling; I need a new dress."

"Ella needs a dress as well," Clara admitted, "And you could help us find it."

Turning with her to regroup with the Doctor, Digby, and Ella, Francesca nodded and replied enthusiastically, "That would be great; I know exactly the place!"

Clara reached for Ella, who smiled and tugged at the scarf falling over her and she pointed to the children, telling the girl, "These are my friends, Francesca and Digby; they're going to come shopping with us."

Looking to them and back to Clara and then back, Ella repeated, "Chescha Beebee!" And then she rubbed at her eyes and laid against Clara, continuing to smile at them calmly.

They moved together back onto the main road, falling into casual discussion about their schooling and the Doctor's travels, Clara enjoying watching the duo she held so many faded memories of. Inside of a shop not far away, she laughed when Ella stood, hands wrapped around Francesca's fingers, and babbled at the girl as she stomped her feet in place, her new dress puffing at her shoulders and flowing over her chubby legs. The Doctor moved behind her, hand finding a comfortable spot on her hip and he nodded to the two teenagers watching Ella crawl about before she began babbling up at them as she fell back onto the scarf and rolled herself up in it.

"She likes them," he offered quietly.

Clara sighed and responded, "I liked them too."


	7. 02 YR - Tiny Scars

**02 YEARS OLD**

Clara knew something was wrong the moment she woke and went to look into the crib to find the toddler on her side, upset look on her face and clutching her stomach. She imagined it was a bug, something she'd caught at daycare, or possibly during their travels with the Doctor, and she frowned, leaning in to test her temperature while reaching to pick the phone up from her dresser.

Dialing his number, she groaned at the heat emanating from the small forehead as she brushed back dark auburn locks and waited. Ella had never been sick before, not in a way that kept her eyes shut and had her releasing small moans of discomfort as Clara tried to lift the girl's hands away. She could feel her pulse quickening with the idea that it was something more serious than just a cold, but she didn't want to think about it – didn't want to let the fear in her take over the rationality that told her it was just a _bad bug_.

"Tardis!" Came the enthusiastic reply over the static of something in the background, as though he might have his head out of the doors while flying through a meteor belt.

Clara closed her eyes, pushing a hand through her hair to sigh, "Ella's running a high fever – looks like she might have flu…"

The words had barely escaped her lips when she heard the Tardis materializing in her living room. Doors flinging open, a set of wild footsteps approached, bursting into her room with an exasperated man, who looked to her as she flung the phone onto her bed and reached in to lift the girl into her arms.

"Mummy, tummy hurts," Ella told her lightly.

The Doctor gestured through the door and offered, "The Tardis can diagnose her; we can take her somewhere to treat her quickly."

She smiled, knowing the Doctor wouldn't want his daughter to suffer, but she nodded slowly, replying, "Doctor, we'll diagnose on the Tardis, but we can get treatment on Earth just fine."

It had become a sour topic between them – just how much Tardis time Ella should have versus how much Earth time she was getting. Clara wanted the girl to grow up normally, with friends and family and without the worry of whether a Dalek would round a corner to shoot her for being the daughter of the Doctor's companion – because despite what the girl called him and despite what he did to protect her, that was what Ella was to the universe: _the daughter of Clara Oswald_.

And even though Clara knew otherwise – the Doctor was as much her father as Clara had become her mother – she preferred the differential. Clara didn't want Ella's life in danger because of the Doctor. So she'd chosen to step off the Tardis to give the girl as much of a regular life as she could, with weekends reserved for trips with the Doctor… and visitations any time the man wanted.

Giving her a sour face, the Doctor slowly nodded and shifted, letting Clara pass and following her through her apartment and into the police box. The girl offered a small smile and a wave at the machinery the Doctor was now moving towards and Clara could see the wince that overtook her little face a moment after that hand released her gut and she felt her own stomach drop out as her mind recognized the symptoms just as the Doctor rubbed his brow and told her quietly with a tap at the screen in front of him, "Appendicitis."

"Hospital," Clara barked roughly, adding with a point, "_Now_!"

He was already slinging them into the vortex and a second later they landed with a loud bang that shook Clara on her feet as Ella cried, "Mummy, hurts lots."

They emerged in an alleyway and Clara shifted forward, then frowned and turned back, "I forgot my purse, her identification, all of her medi…" the Doctor shook his head, pushing her towards the street.

"Go, I'll get, _go_," he moved back into the Tardis and Clara rushed towards the hospital entrance just around the corner, moving inside.

They laid Ella in a hospital bed and Clara felt herself crying because she seemed so small against the large white sheets, looking about with red eyes and reaching for her with a tiny hand that gripped her thumb tightly when she offered a hand. "It's ok, baby," Clara assured, "Mummy's right here."

"Mummy," she mumbled in response as a female nurse lifted her night shirt and Clara looked down at her own nightgown and bare feet, feeling a twinge of embarrassment that fell away as she heard Ella cry out and turn towards her.

She locked eyes with the woman who told her, as gently as Clara knew was possible, "We have to get her into surgery right away, ma'am."

Clara was nodding when the Doctor returned, her purse, a folder, a set of boots, and a dark blue pea coat all bundled in his arms as he asked, "Is she going to be alright?"

The nurse began a dialogue with another and Clara could see them bringing in an IV bag and she bent, hand coming up to smooth Ella's hair away from her face as she tried to control the trembling of her lips to assure the girl who stared at her through eyes narrowed in pain, "Ella, baby, they're going to need to put something in your hand; it's not going to be nice, but it's going to make the hurting in your tummy better."

They touched her arm and Ella flinched, but she looked to the strange woman now giving her a sympathetic smile and Ella offered her arm, looking down when she swiped at the space on the back of her hand and tapped it. The Doctor dumped the contents of his arms onto the foot of the bed and he reached out to give Ella's foot a reassuring squeeze and when she glanced at him, small smile on her pale lips, he whispered, "Daddy's right here."

The girl screamed, more out of fear than pain, and they held her down until the IV was secured and Ella began to succumb to the sedatives, dropping back lazily onto the bed to frown up at them. "We need to take her right now," they told Clara urgently.

She wiped the tears off Ella's reddened cheeks and then she pressed kisses into each, telling her, "Mummy will be here when you wake up."

"Sleeping?" She asked lightly, lifting her bandaged left hand slightly off the bed.

"Yes, darling, you're going to sleep and when you wake, your tummy won't be hurting and we'll be right here – don't you worry," the Doctor told her, bending to kiss her forehead and when he drew back, her eyes had closed.

He ushered Clara to a waiting room where she sat, legs crossed under her, fingers of her left hand alternating between her teeth to chew, body leaned into the Doctor's as she filled out forms and answered questions. They knew her blood type and her medical history for as long as they'd had her, but they didn't know what diseases her parents suffered from, whether there could be any reason to fear complications from her genetic ancestry. She's _adopted_, she explained to personnel, who simply told her to be as thorough as possible.

Clara began to cry at the thought that the girl they'd fought so hard to keep safe was lying on an operating table in a hospital and she crossed her arms at her chest, leaning into the Doctor. His arm came up around her and squeezed into her shoulder as the Doctor touched his head to hers, whispering, "Clara, it's a relatively normal procedure – over seventy thousand children go through it every year on Earth; and thousands more adults – she'll be fine."

"She's two," Clara managed to squeak. "She should be playing with her toys, toddling about the house and asking for you, or telling me some rambling nonsense of a story – not here…" she raised her hand and then buried her face in his chest.

He sniffed hard, wrapping both arms around Clara, knowing she was thinking she'd tried so hard for Ella's life to be free from danger only to have a tiny piece of unused flesh betray her. Leaning his head against hers, he waited until her crying had subsided and she simply sat, her hands tightly wound around his, staring at the hallway waiting for someone to tell her it was ok to see their daughter. When the doctor finally emerged, a soft smile on his lips, Clara released a long breath, listening as he told her everything had gone fine; Ella was resting and they could go see her.

With the Doctor's arm wrapped behind her, they moved down the hallway towards the small brightly decorated room where Ella was lying, IV still hooked to her left hand, eyes moving slowly underneath their lids as she dreamt and Clara bent to kiss her, lifting her shirt to see the bandages at her stomach. She laughed and the Doctor touched her shoulder, asking her, "A lot less terrifying than you'd imagined it would be?"

She waved him off, replying, "I've never had the procedure; and yes, I imagined the worst."

"Smallest of scars, fading with time – _she's fine_." He reached out to smooth the thin bangs from the girl's forehead, "Now you can go back to worrying about normal things: the age appropriateness of a toy, the sugar content of a boxed drink, college applications…"

Laughing lightly, Clara leaned into him as he hugged her, his hand rubbing at her shoulder as she hugged his midsection and she smiled when Ella opened her eyes to look up at her with a groggy smile. "Hey, baby!" Clara whispered happily.

"Mummy?" She asked, then stated with a giggle, "Daddy."

The Doctor grinned and nodded, "We're right here, Ella – _close your eyes_," he leaned forward, running a knuckle over her cheek and watching her eyes flutter before they dropped again and she sighed. Turning back to Clara, he saw her wipe at her tears as she stepped back to fall into the chair beside the bed and she smiled up at him when he moved to stand behind her, hands kneading away the tension in her shoulders as he told her, "Off to dream of happy things."

Clara chuckled and glanced up, smiling when he bent to kiss her lightly before they both went back to watching their little girl sleeping soundly.


	8. 05 MO - Last Thoughts

**05 MONTHS OLD**

He was rewiring the alarms in the console room, trying to take the volume down on them at Clara's request because they frightened Ella, when the baby monitor crackled to life in front of him with a small moan of displeasure he knew wasn't coming from the infant. He frowned, listening for a moment because it could pass and Clara could drift back to sleep, comfortable in some new dream, but he heard a set of words that turned him on his heel and sent him flying down through the corridors.

"_Not Dalek_… _I'm human_."

The Doctor's palm smacked painfully against the button just outside of the sliding doors and when they swooshed open, he stepped in just in time to hear her mumble, "Run," as she turned onto her side. And then she clutched at her pillow and let out a strangled cry that shook her from her sleep, bursting onto her back and gasping up at the ceiling just before Ella began to whine.

He moved immediately to the baby girl, hearing the beginnings of her sobs and he lifted her swiftly against his chest, hand securely at her small back, patting away soothingly as she shrieked into his chest in terror at Clara's distress. "Shhh," he urged, "Ella, it's ok. Mummy's safe; you're safe."

When he turned, he looked to Clara as she tossed the sheets off her legs and he turned away quickly, seeing the night gown bunched up at her waist. But he twisted back when he heard her softly beginning to weep, just as she raised a hand to her head, pressing her palm across her eyes, but not hiding the red creeping into her face, or the way her mouth opened slightly as it spread into a frown.

"Clara," he whispered, walking towards her with a small bounce to his step as Ella's own cries died down and she laid calmly against his chest. He landed on the bed, glancing at Ella as she peered over at the woman now sniffling hard and trying to contain herself against the emotions her nightmare had stirred. "Ella, tell mummy it's just a bad dream…"

Shaking her head, Clara murmured, "Doctor, stop calling me mummy."

"I think it's rather funny," he told the baby girl who smiled at the woman she was now reaching for. Clara slid her hand over her face and took a long breath before opening her eyes to peer up at the infant with an instant grin as she held her own arms out and the Doctor handed the baby over, watching Clara as she settled her against her and pressed a soft kiss into her hair. "Nightmares again?"

She nodded, hand rubbing absently at Ella's back. "All of this searching for her parents," Clara glanced down at Ella, who had tucked her thumb into her mouth, "I dunno, the exhaustion of that, and having to be on her all the time to make sure she doesn't fall down a shaft in _your_ Tardis…"

He watched as Ella glanced up at Clara, both sharing a giggle before Clara edged herself up and dropped Ella to cradle against her arm, laughing when the girl nuzzled against her breasts and closed her eyes. "You were dreaming about Oswin," the Doctor told her quietly. "About being a Dalek."

Clara's eyes drifted and he watched them lose focus at the memory before she asked, "Do you know what her last thought was? Just before she died?" Then she swallowed to look up at him, "Before I died?"

Taking in the haunted look she carried, one he only saw when she was plagued with nightmares of her other lives – something that happened less and less since they'd emerged from the time stream, and, he'd hoped, had passed – the Doctor asked simply, "What?"

Looking down at Ella, Clara muttered, "She hoped her mum and dad were ok."

"Clara," he sighed, lifting a hand to cup the side of her face, closing his eyes against the warmth of her skin before he dropped his fingers down to stroke Ella's cheek. "Don't blame yourself."

"Her mum made soufflés – you knew that," she laughed, "But her mum was brilliant and had the answers to everything, and her dad was a silly old man who made horrible jokes and liked to build things with his hands in a time when machines did the building." Clara inhaled deeply and sighed down at Ella, "She's got a mum and dad out there, Doctor, probably looking for her."

He tried to smile as her lips pressed together, and then he nodded to assure, "And we're looking for them, Clara; we'll cross paths eventually."

"I was just thinking," she sighed sadly, running a finger over the now sleeping girl's cheek, just as the Doctor had, "If something happened to them, if they were converted, or simply killed, their last thought would have been _I hope Ella is ok_."

He shifted forward and touched his forehead to hers, seeing her eyes close against new tears and these weren't for Oswin or the pain she knew that echo of her had felt over her time alone and then her destruction; these were for the baby girl they'd been looking after for at least a month. The one who sighed softly between them and he laughed lightly, nudging her before shifting away and gesturing at the bed, "Back in with you."

Clara settled herself back underneath the sheets the Doctor held, and he shook his head when she shifted into the center of the bed on her side, Ella laid out in the space between her body and the wall. "Doctor?" She called, just as he turned. She peered up at him and he nodded with understanding, crawling onto the bed behind her and leaning his elbow into the bed so he could prop his head up. "Just until I fall asleep; then put her back in the crib – it's not…" she began quickly.

"Safe, I know," he laughed.

She smiled and he kissed her temple, and after she'd nodded off, he lifted Ella up carefully and nuzzled the child before looking sadly at her puckered lips and rosy cheeks. He imagined that if her parents had passed on, somehow the universe would look after her. Make sure she ended up where she should be. Passing a glance back at Clara, now breathing gently, he laid Ella in the crib before going back to bend over Clara to whisper, "We'll keep her safe, you and I, Clara."

With a grin, she mumbled, "Like a mum and dad."

He chuckled, tucking the sheets up at her neck and brushing the hair out of her face to tell her, "Exactly like a mum and dad." She released a sigh and he stroked at her temple with his thumb, whispering, "Goodnight, Clara."


	9. 06 MO - Daddy's Girl

**06 MONTHS OLD**

He paced the console, body swinging slightly as he hummed something Clara couldn't quite make out and she stopped folding the small dresses and onesies that sat in the small basket in front of her to look up at him because she knew it was a memory she wanted – him holding Ella, laid in his arms, tranquil smile on his face as he stared down at her, oblivious to the rest of the universe. It melted her heart, like it always did to see him with her. The baby they shouldn't have in the place she shouldn't be, but perfectly fitting into their crazy lives in a way Clara could never have imagined.

Lifting a finger, he stroked the chub of her left cheek and Clara could see the fingers that rose to meet his, grasping hold as the baby sighed, mumbling something in her sleep before yawning with a squeak. Leaning back against the controls that edge the console space, Clara folded the red dress she held and she smirked just as he met her eyes and in the quiet, they simply smiled at one another before both dropping their gaze to the girl.

She could remember the first night they'd brought her onboard, almost two months before, and how she had screamed, terrified of the sounds, upset by the blinking controls and the way the Tardis swayed as they rushed to get off-world and into a safe orbit around the planet while they figured things out. The cyber threat had been eliminated, but the girl's parents were nowhere to be found and Clara insisted, "_We have to find them, Doctor_."

The look he'd given her had been pained, drenched in a sorrow she didn't want to comprehend – one she still denied herself the bravery to accept – and she'd clutched the girl to her chest, listening to the wails in her ear as she urged the Doctor to scan for life forms; to land them back some place safe; to fix the heartache the baby was feeling and when he'd glanced at the girl moaning, he'd drifted away from the buttons and levers and he'd reached for her.

Clara hadn't expected it, how easily he soothed her with a few mumbled words in her ear as he cradled her to his chest, letting the girl grip tightly to his finger. The Doctor, the mad man, the mess of a thousand years, standing before her like a proper dad comforting his daughter.

He'd handed her back with a simple, "_She's hungry – we'll have to get supplies_," and he'd landed them on Earth just long enough to pick up a four month supply, the Doctor following her through the store with a worried expression as Clara smiled for the baby who now stared at her in confusion.

_But not for him_.

Ella's lips tucked up whenever he came into view and Clara felt herself calm whenever she did because at least there was something to ease the girl's suffering – and Clara knew she had to be suffering without her parents. She'd been old enough to understand what had happened, to some extent, when her own mother had died, but the baby they took back into the Tardis only knew everything around her had changed.

Changed, Clara knew, probably irrevocably.

The Doctor offered to feed her while Clara napped and she reluctantly handed her over, surprised when she'd entered her room and found a new crib there, the space expanded, her own bed lushly redone. "_It wasn't me_," the Doctor told her quietly as he looked about with a small grin as he settled the girl down in the crib, listening to her cries while he measured out formula as Clara watched, hands at her hips, waiting for him to make some mistake, but he'd only smiled up at her. "_Clara, get some rest_."

"_Are you sure you_…" she began.

He lifted a hand to her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, "_I've played this role before_."

She didn't doubt it, he'd mentioned his granddaughter and occasionally he spoke of his family, when he thought she wasn't listening, but seeing him with a child was something entirely different from imagining him with one. And, Clara wouldn't readily admit, she'd imagined it.

He cooed at the girl as Clara laid down slowly in her bed, groaning with pleasure because the mattress was somehow softer, the sheets silkier, and she dozed off as the Doctor fed the baby girl while telling her gently, "_It's alright, Ella. I promise we'll take good care of you_." Then he laughed, quietly, "_Does she? Well, I rather like her too_…"

The next few days, Clara had tended to the girl – the girl who now smirked for her before looking to the Doctor, as though they had shared some secret about her when she hadn't been around – as the Doctor ran his searches, landing on planets and in places and doing his investigations on the whereabouts of Ella's parents. He always returned with the same saddened expression, as though his queries were returning the same results; results she was sure he was keeping from her; results she was sure she knew.

At night though, after the sorrow had passed and they'd settled into the quiet of the Tardis as it drifted in the vortex, the Doctor always ushered her to her room, urged her to get her rest, and he'd dropped himself into a rocking chair with the girl to whisper into her ear as she alternately watched him and giggled at him. The day was Clara's; the night was the Doctor's. It was the routine they'd established. And Clara enjoyed listening to him discuss the day with the girl who grew more confident in the first few days to murmur at him and hum and smile.

"_Sounds like an exciting day, Ella_," the Doctor affirmed on the fourth night. "_But no, we haven't found them_."

It broke her heart as she lay in bed, to think the girl understood they were searching, that the girl trusted them to find her parents… and they were no closer. At the time, Clara imagined it wouldn't take long. She never imagined two months later she'd have a supply of infants clothing and a longing in her heart to take the girl from the Doctor to inhale her scent and smother her in kisses.

She also didn't know she'd enjoy the quiet moments where she watched the Doctor put aside the manic nature of his existence, to still himself so easily, to cradle the baby girl and sing her to sleep. Clara glanced up when she felt his hand brush through her hair, palm at her cheek, thumb at her temple as she smiled up at him.

"You should get some sleep," he sighed.

With a small exhale of a laugh, Clara settled the dress in her hands atop the pile in the basket and she lifted it, walking off the console space and through the corridors with the Doctor just behind her. He was whispering softly, and she chuckled, hearing him say, "Time for you to sleep, little one – a night full of wonderful dreams and a morning…"

Ella purred something inaudible and the Doctor laughed.

"Yes, mummy will be there in the morning," he sighed and Clara understood the girl was no longer asking for her parents – her actual parents – she was aching for them and she frowned as she entered the room and settled the basket down beside the crib, turning to watch the Doctor place her inside before he looked to Clara with a small shy smile.

Clara reached up to straighten the bow tie Ella had tugged out of place and she smoothed his lapels with her palms, giving each of his hearts a small pat of appreciation before telling him quietly, "She's definitely a daddy's girl."

He chuckled, blushing violently before telling her, "I thought you'd told me not to call us mum and dad."

With a shrug, Clara nodded, eyes closing, and she replied, "I'm not saying we should," she smiled up at him, "I'm just saying – she's got you wound around her finger."

He lifted an eyebrow and Clara stepped on tip toe to kiss his cheek, but he shifted, landing a soft peck to her lips that lingered before she slipped back, feeling the burn now at her own cheeks. "Sleep," he told her with a nod. "_Mummy_."

Clara turned, hands dropping to her sides and she climbed into bed, nestling in the sheets and feeling the exhaustion of the day seeping into her muscles as she relaxed, glancing up to find the Doctor leaned over the crib, reaching in to give the infant one final stroke of her cheek. One final check on a daughter, Clara knew. Like a good dad.


	10. 08 MO - Lost Little Girls

**08 MONTHS OLD**

It's become his new habit, wandering the corridors of the Tardis just to find her bedroom door and peek inside; to pass a satisfied glance at the sleeping woman and then stand over the crib to watch the little girl dream. He supposes he does it out of a need to know they're both safe – to remind himself that Clara and Ella are soundly sleeping, another day passed without incident. But he knows why he's really there.

Because they're _still with him_.

One cosmically dysfunctional family afloat in the universe nearing their next big adventure, and he's perfectly alright with knowing that, for a time, it'll simply be a planet of dandelions to blow or a sparkling star to show Ella. The Doctor is content with the mildest of oceans and the calmest mountain breezes; the earthliest of playgrounds and the quiet of Clara's bedroom on the Tardis, the two of them leaned against one another on that bed, Clara singing lightly to the baby he held, squirming against the need to sleep.

He continues to search the worlds around them for any signs that Ella's parents might be alive and looking for their girl, but he knows in the back of his mind and with a sadness that tears at his hearts, that they're gone. Knows the girl he and Clara are slowly growing more and more attached to is an orphan, abandoned into their care and he understands that the longer they keep her, the less likely it'll be that Clara will be able to give her up.

Smiling down at her from where stands next to the crib, he sighs at the irony. His last companion had given birth to her own daughter, a beautiful little girl who thought of the wonders of space while smiling about the smell of her mother's hair and she'd been stolen. Melody Williams had grown up under the watchful eye of despicable people and had, despite it all, turned out alright.

_Mostly_.

The Doctor imagined Ella had also seen wonderful parents; loving parents who would fight across the universe to keep their daughter safe and they'd been taken from her. Replaced by two well-meaning travelers who were doing their best to give the girl all the comforts of the home she deserved. The home Melody – the home _River_ – never quite got. And he knew that guilt was part of the reason he searched, despite knowing the odds, for Ella's parents.

He hadn't searched for Melody. He'd known there was no point; she'd been taken to Florida, raised in an orphanage alone with an odd caretaker and the Silence. She'd been put into a space suit and she'd been lost to time, finding her own way back to her parents as a friend in their past, living out her days alongside them. They lost her childhood, or at least the one she should have had; the Ponds lost their chance to raise her as mother and father, instead of concerned friends.

Looking to the girl before him, he swore she wouldn't succumb to the same fate. Glancing at the woman who sighs in her sleep as she shifts onto her back, he knows she won't let it happen either and he feels the weight of knowing he should have done the same for Melody crushing at his hearts. "Almost morning, Ella," he sighs at the child, hearing Clara yawn and he knows she's awake and watching him now, curious about him in the way she always was around the baby – as though she couldn't have imagined him as a father.

Ella rolls onto her back and yawns, small mouth pushing back together as she continues sleeping and he lifts a knuckle to swipe at the tear that had begun to fall over his cheek. His best friends had lost their daughter because of him and somehow he'd been gifted with this child and the opportunity to reunite her with her parents. Damn the odds, he thought to himself, if they were out in the universe, he would find them.

"I'm so sorry," he told the girl quietly, reaching into the crib to adjust the blanket over her body, swathed in a pale pink sleep suit covered in hearts. "You're going to have to be brave, Ella, just _a little longer_." He smiles as he touches her cheek, watching her smirk in her sleep. "It's a great and ever-expanding universe and every so often it bends beyond our belief to surprise us."

He feels a finger at his elbow and looks down at Clara, seeing the sleepiness in her eyes and the Doctor straightens to drop an arm over her shoulder, surprised when she wraps one around his back and lifts the other to hug at his stomach, leaning her cheek to his chest. They stare down at the infant sleeping calmly and he can't help but shift his gaze to watch Clara as she breathes steadily at his side, so comfortable with him now.

"You're feeling guilty about her again, aren't you," she tells him quietly.

The Doctor nods and explains, "Ella should be with her mum and dad."

"I wasn't talking about Ella," Clara sighs, head lifting slightly to look up at him and he nods slowly because Clara knew exactly who he was thinking about, and why. She smiles and the hand at his back gives him a quick rub before she re-nestles her head against him to look to Ella. "Don't worry, Doctor; Ella's a strong girl too. We'll find her a mum and dad, whether it's her real ones or not. A perfect duo out amongst those stars." Then she adds in a whisper, voice lost to unshed tears, "Ella _will be loved_ no matter where she is."

He sighs and turns Clara to hug her fully, kissing the top of her head as she lays calmly against him, arms now flush around him, holding him back just as tightly because she has all of the same thoughts and fears as he does. The Doctor rubs her back, feeling her exhale a long breath and he tells her confidently, "That she is."

And he looks to the child who peeks up at them with a smile, her mouth mutedly mumbling, "Mumma dadda," before she rolls onto her side to search out the edge of her blanket to chew. And he knows that to the baby girl drooling onto a lilac blanket, her perfect duo weren't among the stars – they were standing right in front of her.


	11. 07 MO - Hush, My Darling

**07 MONTHS OLD**

He could hear her stirring through the baby monitor attached to his hip and the Doctor turned from the console to begin his walk towards Clara's room, frown set on his face because they'd just put her down for the night and, he knew, Clara hadn't gotten much sleep in days. She was worried about all of the time they'd been spending in the Tardis; she was talking about maybe going back home for a while.

Entering the room slowly, he looked at the bright eyes that peered up at him instantly from between the wooden bars, reddened around the edges as her lips pouted and shuddered and the Doctor rushed forward, throwing a quick look to Clara, asleep in her bed, before bending over the crib to make faces at the girl. Her small mouth opened slightly, revealing bare gums and she slowly began to cry.

"No," the Doctor moaned, "_No, no, no, no, no_!"

Ella continued crying anyways, her sobs growing in volume and the Doctor turned swiftly when he heard Clara mumble something as she shifted in bed. He whipped his head back to the baby reaching up for him and then slapping the bedding at either side of her body before she began to turn over, crawling to the edge of the crib to lift herself up.

He wanted to pick her up, to comfort her with a walk around the corridors, but he could hear Clara's voice clearly in his head, an argument from a few days before, "_No, Doctor, she needs to learn to sleep in her own bed. A little crying won't hurt her, trust me_."

And he had, he'd trusted her by ignoring her when she slept and he was working on the Tardis and the monitor perched atop the console, or attached to his hip, alerted him to Ella's cries. But Clara knew and she had threatened to lock her door if he didn't stop, so with a frown, he looked down at the infant who was reaching for him, and he shook his head, telling her quietly, "Mummy says you sleep in the crib."

"_Dadda_," the girl wailed in response.

He picked her up and laid her down on her back, throwing the blanket over her body and turning just as she let out a screech that made Clara inhale sharply. The Doctor watched the pained expression on her face… she needed to sleep, he knew, and he looked back at Ella, who was picking herself back up again, and he took a long breath and kicked off his shoes, "Mummy didn't say I couldn't climb in with you."

Slowly, he lifted one leg up and over, knowing the weight limit on the crib should carry his thin frame safely, and then brought his body over carefully, hearing Ella's cries quieting as she turned to watch him, one finger tucked into her mouth, a worried look on her face. And then she smiled. The Doctor spread himself down onto the mattress, knees bent awkwardly, and he looked to the girl who released the wooden bars and dropped onto his stomach, calling out to him loudly.

"Shhhh," he urged, one finger on his lips, listening to Ella laugh as she dropped her head on his chest. "Mummy is sleeping and mummy needs her sleep – do you know what she did today?" He eyed the girl, "We went to a marketplace and it was supposed to be for a few minutes, but I got a bit carried away…" he trailed, glancing at Clara, now resting peacefully, "Well, a lot carried away, and we didn't have a stroller, or the strappy thinger you love so much, and mummy carried you in her arms for hours, which is an awful lot of time to be carrying a baby, even one as small as you."

Ella scratched at his waistcoat as she continued to grin at him, babbling nonsense that meant, "_Mummy didn't mind, she told me stories and sang me songs and we looked at all of the pretty things_."

He smoothed her wild hair back down onto her head as she pumped her legs just at his side and then released a small squeal of a laugh, turning her face and rubbing her hair into his ribs, tussling her hair in every direction before she calmed. "Aren't you a silly girl."

She laughed.

"Let's try to get some sleep so mummy can get some sleep," he nodded to the child as she hummed.

Ella pointed at his face, reaching until her cool fingers landed at his chin, and she smiled, one leg lifting to stretch over his stomach, the other still planted into the mattress. "_Will you stay here_?" the baby asked him in a set of mumbles and head bops.

The Doctor reached out to nudge her cheek and then he sighed and nodded, settling himself into the mattress and lifting Ella onto his stomach, hand securely at her back. "Until you fall asleep."

"Dadda," she said softly, and in the subsequent string of syllables, the Doctor knew she'd asked, "_Will you stay with me forever_?"

He considered the question and he considered the answer, glancing again at Clara, asleep in her bed. It was inevitable, he knew, that she'd want to go home. Clara would want to give Ella as normal a life as she possible could and that involved walking away from the Tardis and allowing Ella to grow up in real time on Earth. He smiled down at the girl, "You know, you lucked out Ella. Because you're going to have the most wonderful mum in the universe and she's going to love you so much."

Because he was absolutely sure Clara would take the girl as her own, just as soon as she allowed herself to accept that the girl's real mother was gone. And as soon as she allowed herself to accept that the baby girl she'd been raising already knew no one else but Clara as her mother. He listened to the baby mumble, "Mumma," into his chest and he could feel the small yawn the girl gave, one that he mimicked, suddenly feeling exhausted himself.

"Let's just close our eyes a moment, Ella," he told her softly, rubbing small circles onto the girl's back with one hand while tugging her blanket out from underneath him. He let the soft cloth fall gently onto her back as he sighed, "Just a moment."

It was hours later when Clara opened her eyes to look up at the ceiling of her bedroom, turning quickly to look towards the crib just a few feet away and she frowned when she saw the knees jutting out between the bars. Throwing back the sheets, she sat up and smiled, a huff of air escaping her nostrils as she realized what she was seeing. She stood slowly, stretching against a long sleep and she called out quietly, "Doctor?"

The man inside the crib was on his back, one arm curled over the baby on his chest, the other lying flat at his side, and Clara laughed softly, offering Ella a bright smile when she opened her eyes to smile up at her. "Dadda," the girl whispered, before making a long shushing sound as Clara lifted her up into her arms.

"Hi, baby girl," Clara whispered, "Let's go get some breakfast."

She plucked the girl's travel bag up off a rocking chair and draped it over her shoulder as Ella touched her chin and dropped her head into her shoulder. Clara heard the crib groan as the man inside turned onto his side, and she watched him lift Ella's blanket to his neck as he murmured nonsense in his sleep. She gripped the wooden edging and watched the girl point at him and she sighed, looking back to the girl who repeated, "Dadda."

With a nod, Clara asserted with a smile and a poke to her belly, "Dadda is silly," before making her way out of the room admitting, "But he's a good dad."


	12. 04 MO - Ella's Lullaby

**04 MONTHS OLD**

His mind is a jumbled mess as he paces the Tardis console, fingers tapping at his temples considering all the places he should be looking. The factory, for starters, maybe earlier in the day – except he knows he can't do that, he could very well cause the things that leave the baby orphaned; he could also make it worse – or maybe later in the day, except he'd been there. He'd spent days walking the streets of that city just waiting for someone to come rushing towards him, grasping him by his waistcoat with a photo and a sob.

"_Sir, have you seen my baby girl_?"

They're the words he longs to hear; the words he longs to find on some bit of history in space. Except they're not and he makes himself a list of places he should go. Earth, future Earth, maybe, except if he can't locate the girl's parents, he can't locate her family… and it's the thought that keeps him pacing: somewhere out there, beyond just her parents is the possibility of a whole family missing the girl.

He rubs at his forehead, deciding to call it a night, and slowly trudges through the corridors, slowing as he approaches the open door to Clara's bedroom, hearing her voice softly emerging in whispers as the baby cries and then she begins to hum to soothe the girl. It's something familiar and it tugs at his hearts as he stands just outside, just listening because he doesn't want her to stop on his account and he smiles when recognition hits him.

Clara's purring an Earthly lullaby, 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', but – as with most things Earthly – it has a Gallifreyan counterpart and when she starts to absently sing, it's in the language of his people, emerging in the half daze he knows she's in. Leaning against the doorframe, seeing her cradling the girl in her arms, sitting cross legged in her bed, the Doctor sighs and closes his eyes remembering a time and a place so long ago he thought he'd lost it.

_Hush my darling, don't you cry,_

_Mumma's gonna take you up to the sky._

_Over mountains capped with snow,_

_In that moonlight how they glow._

_Sleep my sweetheart, don't despair_

_Dadda's gonna fly you through the air._

_Through the fields of amber blades,_

_By silver leaves lining the glades._

_Oh, my dearest brightest light,_

_How we'll soar all through the night._

The words disappear, but her voice continues on, a small laugh interrupting from her and he can see Ella has fallen asleep, her mouth open, her hand gripping the red tank top Clara's wearing. Entering the room, the Doctor lifts a finger to his lips when Clara turns to look at him, and he crawls slowly onto the bed, sitting just beside her to look down at the infant she's holding.

"How do I know that song?" Clara asks him quietly, leaning into him slightly as she wipes the tears from Ella's chubby cheeks and smoothes the thin hair atop her head.

He sighs and meets her eyes, responding with a nod, "You've said at least one of your echoes lived on Gallifrey; maybe she tended to children as you do – it is a commonality amongst your echoes." He doesn't want to consider that this echo had been a mother, or that she'd had another echo on Gallifrey who was… who'd been lost to her children for helping him.

Clara seems satisfied with the answer and he can feel the weight of her body growing heavier as she drifts closer to him in exhaustion. He touches her shoulders as he scoots back against the wall and Clara carefully picks herself up to sit at his side, this time relaxing between the wall and the Doctor, smiling when he raises his arm for her to nestle into him and the intimacy of the moment isn't lost on either of them as they smile at one another in the silence before turning their attention to the baby they'd rescued.

They watch Ella breathing calmly, her hand slipping onto her own stomach as she inhales a ragged breath from crying and then releases it, shifting slightly to nuzzle into Clara's chest. Glancing up at the Doctor, she asks quietly, "Did your wife sing that song to your child… on Gallifrey?" He doesn't have to answer because the sadness that seeps onto his features forces her to look away, muttering, "I'm sorry, I know it must be difficult to think about… even after all of this time."

With a nod, he grips her shoulder and then gives it a pat, nodding to Ella to sigh, "And _she_ loves it, just as my own did." Watching Clara, waiting for her to look back up at him with tired eyes he knew empathized with both the loss the girl was experiencing and the nostalgia the Doctor was feeling, the Doctor smiles and tells her, "Sing it again; hearing your voice, it's comforting."

Nodding and grinning as she turns back to the baby, Clara begins to sing again, seeing Ella respond with a smile in her sleep, as the Doctor kisses her temple. After days of restlessness, his mind drifts to a state of peace, listening to her and he settles his chin against her head with a sigh, thinking to himself, _comforting indeed_.


	13. 04 MO - Tummy Time

**04 MONTHS OLD**

"What sort of ritual is '_tummy time'_?" The Doctor asked Clara, watching her spread a thick blanket down over one of the rugs in the library as he stood, hands planted at his waist, face contorted into an expression of confusion and when Clara glanced up at him to explain, she smiled in amusement.

"Fairly self explanatory, Doctor: it's time for Ella to lie on her stomach." She watched one eyebrow rise slightly before she sighed, "Helps build muscles and it's also good for baby and mummy, or daddy, to spend some quality time together." Frowning, she watched the way his eyes met hers, the sadness she saw so often in them amplified at the thought of Ella spending quality time with anyone not actually her parents. "As long as we have her, we should keep up with her development."

"Right," the Doctor agreed with a nod and a point, hand immediately returning to his person in the form of a nervous rub to the back of his neck. "Right, _development_."

She grinned up at him awkwardly, "Thought you'd had children."

The Doctor made a noise that Clara thought sounded like a nervous sheep as he replied, "Yes, sure, I do, _did_, but," his body gave an odd set of squirms, "It's been quite some time since I've had an infant around this much." He laughed, "Never thought I'd be playing the role of father again."

"Yeah, well," Clara mumbled, "Thought I'd have a proper wedding before being a mum."

Their eyes met again and Clara watched him swallow roughly, lips twisting upwards slightly. While he'd made plenty of jokes in the past two weeks about them being Ella's _temporary_ mum and dad, Clara had been adamant he not call her mum in front of the baby. Of course he continued to, and Clara knew his mind was already working its plans: If they didn't find Ella's mum and dad, she'd need new ones, and they both knew the longer they had her, the harder it would be for Clara to let her go. Ella deserved, at the very least, a good mum, the Doctor knew, even though it burned his eyes with sorrow knowing he'd lose Clara.

Unless _maybe_… she had a proper _wedding_.

Clara looked away first, down at the girl she held securely to her with her left arm, green eyes quietly watching every move she made and when Clara was satisfied with the blanket, she carefully laid Ella down on her stomach. For a moment, the baby laid her head down and offered her a grin she matched and then the Doctor dropped down slowly, crossing his legs and bending to look at the girl who was now shifting her head to find him.

Ella squealed when she caught sight of him and the Doctor gestured, "Doesn't look like she's getting much… _development_," he began, but no sooner had the words escaped his lips than Ella slapped the ground on either side of her and then she dragged her face across the blanket, picking it up shakily to beam up at the Doctor seated in front of her.

With a satisfied sigh, Clara laid down at her side, watching her as she continued to give the Doctor a wild variety of happy faces that made him laugh back at the child. She leaned her cheek in her palm and offered lightly, "All of those silly faces you make at her – she's giving them right back."

The Doctor straightened to look down at Clara and Ella turned slightly, curling her arms in front of her to look at the woman beside her with a deep curiosity the Doctor understood. "What do you mean?"

Glancing up, Clara smiled, "You think she's not watching you on the console?"

He pointed before balling his right fist into his left, "She watches me?"

She almost laughed at the shock in his voice, looking to the baby who offered a smile and a hum. "You love his silly faces, don't you Ella?"

She stuttered over a 'D' sound that turned into a long 'Mmmmm' before dropping her head down and flipping onto her side to watch Clara now. Reaching forward, Clara poked her belly gently and smiled when the girl's mouth widened in a soundless chuckle before Clara re-adjusted her onto her stomach. Ella pouted and looked up at the Doctor, tiny forehead wrinkling in frustration and just as her mouth opened to wail, the Doctor reached forward and swooped her up into his arms, earning him a satisfied sigh from the baby girl.

Shaking her head, Clara sat up and she landed her palms on her thighs, giving the Doctor's a stern look as she warned, "You can't do that, Doctor – the point of tummy time is being _on her tummy_."

Jutting his chin back at her, he reminded, "You said it was also _quality time with_…" Clara made a noise of protest, stopping the Doctor's words, and she tilted her head, widening her eyes as he looked to Ella, who lightly slapped at his bottom lip. "You know," he began, "Babies also need comfort."

"I'm well aware of what babies need," Clara told him while pointing at the blanket and the Doctor lifted the girl up and placed her back on her stomach where she immediately began to cry.

Lifting his palms to his ears, he watched Clara as she laid back down, giving the girl a smile and he could see her lips moving, could hear the muffled words she was telling the girl and then she began singing. The Doctor risked removing his hands to hear her fully and he noticed Ella's crying taper off and soon the baby was watching the woman in front of her, enraptured. Much like the Doctor himself felt.

She smiled up at him as he relaxed and turned his attention to Ella, who continued to watch her, small mouth slightly agape, eyebrows rising and falling with the melody and when Clara finished, the girl screamed and then hummed at Clara. And as he watched the woman with the child, the Doctor was struck with a sudden thought – _maybe Clara could sing at our wedding_…

With a nervous jump, the Doctor stood against the odd tickle in his stomach and he turned away, telling her quickly, "I should check on our trajectory – make sure we're not flying into the sun, or into a star, or into a planet. Planets have a way of being tricky, popping up in all sorts of ways, or being towed about…"

Ella turner her head and pinched her eyes shut as the Doctor leapt over her and rushed from the room and Clara frowned, then shrugged and looked to the baby now peering towards the corridor. She shifted closer and Ella rolled onto her back, just beside her, smiling up at her happily as Clara ran a finger over her stomach and sighed, "I suppose that's enough tummy time for today." She laid her hand atop the warm body wriggling about and she told Ella honestly, "That _ridiculous_ man, sometimes I don't know what he's thinking." She shrugged, "Can I tell you a secret, Ella?" She leaned forward as Ella hummed another long 'm' and whispered, "As insane as it seems, I'd consider marrying that fool if he asked." She laughed and then sighed, "Don't think he'd ever stop long enough to though." Clara kissed Ella's forehead and told her softly, "And time keeps ticking on, doesn't it, Ella. And the Doctor will never stand still."

Reaching for her, Ella shouted, "DA!" And then she hummed up at her and Clara knew what that hum meant, knew the word the girl was trying to say and she kissed her small nose to stop her attempt, watching her inhale sharply with a look of glee as Clara pulled away.

"Baby," Clara whispered, "Let's go find the Doctor."

She picked the girl up and smiled when she immediately settled herself against her chest, top of her head resting just underneath Clara's chin. Tugging the blanket off the floor, she gave it a shake and then wrapped it around the girl who yawned in response and they slowly made their way to the console where the Doctor was fiddling with the screen, slapping at it roughly and just as he opened his mouth to yell, he spotted Clara and he froze.

He didn't know why seeing her with the baby always gave him a double set of jolts in his chest. She'd been the governess before; she'd cared for the Maitlands in his presence and he'd never given it a second thought. Clara was a nanny, she looked after children. Except she was softly humming to a four and a half month old baby girl while swaying slightly, pastel blanket draped over the small body at her chest that hung loosely over her stomach. A small body who laughed for them now, who had begun to cry _for_ them instead of _at_ them… who spent _quality time _with them throughout the day.

And, he knew, who was desperate to call them names neither thought they deserved.

Pointing, he hissed, "_She's asleep_."

The Doctor turned away from the controls and met her as she stepped onto the main platform, left arm easily over her shoulder as they watched the girl sleep and for a little while – _just a few moments_ – they both stood together in both sadness and adoration of the baby who drifted through dreams, the Doctor's watch ticking quietly in Clara's ear.


	14. 14 MO - Parting Words

**14 MONTHS OLD**

The console was quiet when the Doctor was off doing repairs elsewhere in the ship and Clara sat in one of the chairs with the toddler in her lap, listening to her laughter as she held her hands and bounced her on her knees. It echoed and Clara knew the Doctor could hear it; could imagine the smile on his face as he burrowed inside the mechanics of the ship, making sure something or other had been fixed – not trusting the Tardis to do her own repairs. Of course, Clara knew, it was more his need to constantly be fiddling with the ship.

"Mummy 'top," Ella gasped, eyes shut within a smile as Clara slowed her knees and pulled the girl against her chest, sighing when she felt the small hands that gripped at her sides as the girl's head came down heavily against her chest. "Where dadda?"

Clara leaned back, waiting for those bright eyes to meet hers, and she explained, "Dadda's fixing his space ship so we can go some place pretty."

"F'owers?" Ella asked excitedly.

The Doctor laughed, slapping a rag into his left hand before pointing at the girl who turned quickly with a happy gasp and a small hop, "Yes, Ella, we're off to see the flowers and two sunsets over the oceans of Sarstan and then," he moved forward rapidly, hands curling around the girl's sides to swing her up into the air as she squealed, "And then we're going to take mummy for a nice dinner – how would you like that?"

Twisting in his grasp, Ella waited until she was settled against the man who watched her to point at Clara with a sheepish smile, tucking her forefinger over her bottom lip as she grinned and repeated in a mumble, "Mummy nigh dinna."

Clara stood, reaching for Ella, when the Tardis shook violently as alarms blared, and as Clara took Ella so the Doctor could check his systems, she could hear the girl mutter a quiet, "Uh oh munstas," before hiding her face in Clara's shoulder. "Doctor, what is it?" Clara asked, landing a hand against the console to keep herself from falling.

She could always read the level of danger in his eyes and right now she was terrified by the look he was giving the Gallifreyan swinging across his screen and when he turned to look at her, she felt her chest go ice cold as her hand came off the console and fell tightly against Ella's back. Clara knew without being told, she should get somewhere safe and she took off through the corridors as the Doctor tried to swing them back into the time vortex, but the ship that had them in its tractor beam wasn't letting go.

"No," he shouted, repeating the word several times before growling, "Come on!"

He watched the front doors give a shake and it made his hearts skip beats because it shouldn't be possible, and when they burst open and the first of the Cybermen entered, he raised his Sonic only to have a laser shot at him. Ducking wildly, he crouched and rushed into the Tardis, hoping he could disable it from a different angle.

"The Doctor in the Tardis has the child," he heard as he turned a corner and moved through a divider door, back slamming painfully against the hard wall just inside.

They'd come for Ella, he knew and he took a long breath to begin running again.

Clara could feel the ship vibrating underneath her feet and Ella was beginning a soft cry against her skin because while they'd faced dangers together, it'd never been inside of the Tardis. The Tardis, as far as Ella knew, was a safe place and now that would no longer be the truth and she damned whoever was attacking them for taking that from their daughter.

She swung into one of the engine rooms, slipping and reaching out to take hold of a metal pole to keep from falling, and she shouted as she spun roughly and her shoulder collided with a large pipe. "Mummy," the girl in her arms wailed in response.

Standing straighter, she winced as she raised her throbbing arm to run a hand over the girl's head as she whispered, "Shush, baby, everything is fine."

Ella continued to cry as Clara bent slightly and began making her way through the tubing and around silver cylinders that whirred with unknown functions. Trying to calm the girl, she turned a corner and pressed her back to the wall, sliding down so Ella sat in her lap and she smoothed the dark auburn hair away from her face, looking at the closed eyes and the heaving chest that expelled ragged puffs of hot air through lips wet with drool and tears and Clara dropped her forehead onto Ella's, telling her quietly, "Ella, baby, you have to be quiet."

"Dadda!" The girl screamed, and Clara understood she wanted to know where the Doctor was – she wanted to know that he was safe – and she brushed her hands over the girl's hair and clutched her against her body because she was afraid of the same thing.

With a long breath, she pulled her back again and she rubbed at her cheeks with her thumbs, calling, "Ella, Ella open your eyes, please." She waited. "Ella, look at mummy." The girl's lip trembled as she inhaled and then her eyes slowly opened to look at her as she smiled and tried to calm her own nerves to assure, "Dadda's coming, ok? Daddy is ok and he's coming."

"The Doctor will hand over the child," came a voice from a few feet away and Clara could feel the terror like lightning through her veins, flowing out over her body as she shook her head and lost her composure, crying as she held Ella against her body and then looked to a lit area she imagined would lead her to another door. _Everything in this damned ship_, she thought to herself in frustration,_ leads to another door_.

Touching her lips to Ella's temple, she whispered, "Mummy's going to run now, I need you to be brave, Ella – can you be brave?"

"B'ave," the girl responded on a shaky breath before continuing to sob into her chest, wetting her blouse and making her stomach turn with fear.

The Cyberman had Ella in their clutches before, had her locked away and had, Clara and the Doctor knew, converted her parents to their army. They hadn't discussed what they might want with the infant then, but now she wished they'd considered she'd been kept alive for a reason. Clara had told herself they'd just gotten to her before her conversion, or before they decided to kill her trying. "Be brave," she sighed, for herself as much for the girl, and she stood to push off the wall and run towards the hall.

A few corridors away, the Doctor raised his Sonic, prepared, and when the Cyberman came in view, he sent a blast of energy towards it, watching the shocks that sparked at its chest before it dropped to its knees with a single word.

"Ella."

Frown creeping onto his face, the Doctor moved out from behind the pillar and he looked to the Cyberman and he asked quickly, "What do you want with Ella?"

The face didn't move, but the Doctor could see the black oil that now leaked from each eye and he came around the robot, listening to the crackles inside of the machine, knew it was one good spark from shutting down entirely, and when it spoke, the Doctor felt his hearts stop.

"Is our daughter safe?"

"Your daughter?" The Doctor repeated quietly, eyes instantly burning with tears.

"We have been told the Doctor travels with the child in the Tardis."

"Ella is your daughter; _you're her parents_." He fell in front of the Cyberman, raising his Sonic to try his best to remedy the damage he'd done, but the silver hand at the Cyberman's side shot up and gripped his wrist quickly as he looked up into the eye holes that stared back at him. "Ella is here. We've been keeping her safe; we've been…" he trailed, finishing sadly, "Raising her as our own."

"Ella is safe," it said gently and the Doctor understood it wasn't a question, but a statement. An acceptance of sorts from a father – he knew – who had escaped imprisonment, had fought against programming, had fought against the universe, and was now receiving the assurance he'd sought.

With a nod, the Doctor repeated, "Ella is safe."

The hand around his wrist loosened its grip and fell away and the Doctor watched the head slump forward, a low buzz slowly fizzling away and then the machine dropped to the ground at his side. He touched the hard shoulder and closed his eyes before lifting his hand to rub at the tears in his eyes and then he jumped up with a quick, "Clara," before running down the corridor.

The girl at Clara's chest hadn't stopped crying and she found herself continually blinking away her own tears to clear her vision and when she reached the set of metal doors, she breathed a sigh of relief, except when she offered the thought generally required to open them, the Tardis refused. She rang her cloister bell as a warning and Clara listened as the voice in her head explained it wasn't safe behind the door.

"I'm not safe here!" She whispered harshly, jumping when she heard the quick set of stomps coming in her direction and she knew, immediately, she was trapped. She clung to the girl clutching to her and she watched the metal soldier approach her quickly, arm raised to fire.

"Mummy, p'ease!" Ella bellowed. "Mummy, p'ease dadda!"

"Ella," the Cyberman said simply.

The toddler turned away from it and shouted once more, "Mummy, p'ease!" before burrowing her face into Clara's shoulder and she gripped her tightly, standing and backing herself into the wall, head shaking against the metal soldier standing before her.

"Please don't, she's just a baby," Clara pleaded.

The Cyberman stared at her silently a moment and Clara felt the urge to scream, but she swallowed it, trying her best to console the girl calling out to her in terror and when the machine in front of her made a noise of discontent, Clara chanced to look up at it. It wept. Thick trails of black liquid slowly made their way over the steel of its cheeks and it slowly lowered its arm to watch Clara as she bounced the girl against her chest and murmured songs in the girl's ear.

"Ella," the Cyberman repeated, "It's mummy."

Clara slowed, the hand rubbing circles on Ella's back came to a stop as she stared up in shock at the stoic face looking at her. And the girl she held lifted her arms to wrap tightly around Clara's neck, screaming, "Mummy no, monstas. Mummy, p'ease, no monstas!"

The Cyberman's head lowered slightly and then lifted sharply, "You are mummy now?"

Mouth falling open with horrified understanding, Clara nodded slowly, "I'm so sorry, she… we had to take her out of that place. _We had to keep her safe_! And we looked for you; _we looked everywhere for you_."

"Ella," the Cyberman called.

The baby released a loud scream at being called by the robotic voice and Clara immediately tried to comfort her, shifting her up in her arms and swinging her gently, whispering, "Ella, it's ok. Ella, sweetheart, it's ok," and then she added, just as the Cyberman called, "_Mummy's here_."

Eyes closing, Clara could feel the warm tears roll over her cheeks as the Cyberman who used to be Ella's mother asked, "Will you keep Ella safe?"

She nodded, looking back into those black eyes, and she managed to explain, "I've… I've adopted her; we just had her first birthday." Then she sobbed, "We couldn't find you and I loved her so much; I didn't want her to be alone. _I didn't want her to get lost_…" she trailed, thinking about the children's homes and how she'd never see the girl again if they'd put her in one. She jumped when something burst at the chest of the Cyberman in front of her.

"Love Ella," she stated.

With a nod, Clara assured, "I will; _I do_."

"Love… Ella," she repeated.

Clara frowned because she knew it was malfunctioning. It was deliberately malfunctioning because the baby girl the mother in that suit had given birth to was clinging to another woman and continually crying for _her mummy_. Ella's mother was shutting herself down to spare her daughter any more pain and it destroyed Clara's heart to watch it happen.

There was a groan from inside of the Cyberman and it croaked out, "I love you, Ella."

It fell forward, crashing to the ground and Clara slid down with a choked sob, listening to Ella's screams just beside her ear as she hugged her tightly and repeatedly declared, "You're fine, baby, everything is fine. _Mummy is right here_."

The Doctor moved slowly towards her, watching her duck her head into Ella's shoulder and he helped her up, leading her and Ella back out onto the console where he landed the Tardis on Earth as Ella fell into a heavy sleep and Clara stared blankly at the ground. He sighed and went to get equipment to help him lug the two Cyberman just outside and when he re-entered, Clara was standing, nodding her head, an idea firmly in her mind and he waited, one hand gripping the blue door at his right.

"We should bury them," Clara told him plainly, voice raspy from crying. "Or toss them into the depths of the ocean – will they sink to the bottom? Or maybe a volcano, melt the metal off of them, a proper cremation." She shook her head, "We should do something."

He approached her slowly, hands coming up, and Clara sank into him, careful about the girl between them as she let him hold her securely. "We'll do something for them, Clara."

She looked down sadly at the red face and puckered lips leaned into her right breast. "We'll always keep her safe for them. Always love her for them." She smiled. "Always be her parents. For them."

Kissing her forehead and then Ella's before raising his hands to thrust them into her hair to hold her steady enough to drop a gentle kiss to Clara's lips, the Doctor nodded and promised, "Always, Clara."


	15. 34 MO - Absolute

**34 MONTHS OLD**

He felt like he'd had the ring for ages, burning a hole in the pocket of his trousers just waiting for the right moment because he knew – with women – it had to be the _just right _moment or everything would fall apart. Of course, figuring out when that moment was took patience, and too much self doubt, he knew. Could he have done it after Ella's first steps on the playground? Maybe, but Clara was too concerned with her abilities as a mother then to be forced to think about being a wife.

Not just any wife, but the wife of a Time Lord.

The Doctor understood that he would be asking a lot of her, and he understood there was a great chance she would sadly decline his request and that kept the ring in his pocket after the first words and the first steps and the first teeth and the first birthday. He'd held it too many times that day to count, sitting with Ella in the living room while Clara fluttered about around them with balloons and streamers and a clip board with a list on it. A list, he'd teased Ella, of things the baby girl didn't need.

"_She needs a birthday party; it's her first_."

"_She's one, Clara, I can promise you she won't remember if you choose to avoid family_."

"_Doctor, she _deserves_ a party_."

Maybe marriage, he considered then, wasn't high on the list she held. Maybe it sat nestled just underneath the cake and the décor and the party favors; maybe between the perfect gift for the little girl spitting up avocado on her chin as she laughed at the Doctor's faces and the stories Clara had planned for her Gran and the Maitlands about how she'd decided to adopt. And maybe she'd scratched it off, too occupied with actually being a successful mum to worry.

Maybe marriage, he knew in all honesty, had never been on her list.

The question waited through that cake and those wishes and the happy smiles – marred only by Linda's questionable glances in his direction and Clara's hesitation when Ella called him 'Dadda' and her father questioned their relationship. She'd turned to him awkwardly then, hands clasping together, fingers twisting nervously, and she'd nodded slowly to stammer at the man, "_Yeah, he's, we've been sort of travelling with her and he's around, so yeah, in a way, yeah, he's her dadda_."

He'd been stroking the ring through the fabric of his trousers then, ready for when they'd all left to drop to one knee and try his best to be human, but the words had stung his hearts in a way they'd never been pained before. _He's around_. The Doctor considered the words when they stood just at the entrance to Ella's bedroom watching the girl sleeping, his arms wrapped underneath Clara's chin. She'd leaned back into him, her hands coming up around his forearms and she'd turned to look up at him with a satisfied smile.

"_Thanks, for being here_."

"_You know me_," he'd told her solemnly, "_Always _around_ when you need me_."

She'd kissed him lightly then and when he'd gone back to the Tardis, he'd sat a long time with that ring held between two fingers, considering just what he meant to her. The Doctor knew Clara loved him, but did she want to engage in the sort of relationship that would tie her to him indefinitely; the sort of relationship that would give him the right to ask her to board the Tardis permanently with their daughter and fly off to the stars _as a family_?

He wasn't even sure he was ready for that, how could he consider proposing if he wasn't certain.

Except he was certain. He buried two Cybermen, shoveling the dirt carefully overtop them as Clara held Ella in her arms delicately, face reddened from hours of crying, and he'd stood next to her to hold her until she was ready to accept the truth of it. The Doctor knew Clara had held onto the belief, hidden away in her heart, that they would find the girl's parents one day – that they would be able to say, "_This will be complicated, but we've kept her safe for you and everything will be fine now_."

Looking down at the fresh mounds of dirt in that valley, Clara had nodded with understanding: Ella's parents were truly deceased. The girl was absolutely hers and no one would ever contest that. And he thought about it then, about asking her at their graves, about solidifying what they'd said a few hours earlier: they would be Ella's parents forever. But she started on a list.

Clara had been making one in the back of her mind for some time, he knew. She had to sort out what was best for Ella and she'd started with foods, and clothes, and then schooling, and then travelling. They had to stay out of the Tardis; they had to be on Earth. Her and Ella needed to maintain as normal of a life as possible and that meant that while the Doctor was welcome in it – while they would still travel with him for a day here and there in their lives – he was not a part of it.

He knew why she'd compartmentalized, and he'd gone along with it.

The Doctor arrived each Friday night to pick his girls up and he delivered them to their doorstep each Sunday evening with a smile and the small nagging hope in his hearts that Clara would change her mind. Except they were watching their baby girl grow up and he understood: she needed Earth. So he pushed the ring further into his pocket and he tried to forget it. Tried to treat their journeys as educational field trips for the girl who was learning to speak and now walking about the Tardis easily, throwing smiles up at the machinery as though it shared secrets with her.

And he imagined that sometimes it did. So he wasn't terribly surprised when she tugged at his trousers as he stood on the console, and asked him quietly, "Daddy, why don't you give her the ring?"

He jerked slightly, glancing up to see Clara entering the Tardis with a plate full of sandwiches and a bag in which he knew were juice boxes and he knelt to whisper, "Ella, let's not talk about the ring in front of mummy."

She twisted her lips in frustration and then prompted, "Mummy, daddy has a secret and you said it's bad to keep secrets."

Clara laughed, settling the plate and bag on a chair to approach them slowly, arms reaching out to lift Ella up and the girl frowned at him as Clara asked, "Almost three and even she knows secrets are bad."

"Well, you've told her as much."

"Yes," Clara nodded, "And unlike other people; she listens to me."

With a point of his finger, he barked, "Oi, secrets can be useful."

Ella sighed and she gestured at his pants and for a moment, Clara's eyes went wide, but then the girl told her bluntly, "He's hiding something in his pocket; he's scared you won't like it."

Brow dropping, Clara called, "Out with it then."

He shifted, twisting anxiously and then he admitted, "I can only give it to you at the right time, otherwise, it's the wrong time and yes, you won't like it, and this isn't the sort of thing you can give on multiple occasions, you get one go. It's like a thing, a once in a lifetime thing and…"

Clara stepped towards him, shifting Ella in her arms, and she smiled, "Doctor, empty your pockets."

He grimaced as he looked to Ella, who laid her head down on her mother's shoulder and smiled up at him in a way that made him think the girl was conspiring against him, and then he pushed his hands into his pockets and hesitated. "This isn't right," he argued.

"Once in a lifetime things generally aren't – they're spontaneous, unplanned affairs you look back on and go, 'Well, would have done that better if I'd thought about it first', but now you're a bit caught, by a toddler, and you should just…" Clara began with an outstretched hand.

He nodded quickly, and then reached out for Ella and offered, "I have to consult our daughter first."

Head falling sideways, Clara laughed, but then pushed her lips together and nodded and handed the girl over, crossing her arms to watch the Doctor move a short distance away and turn his back to her. With a small sigh, he looked Ella over as she watched him. Somehow the universe had granted Clara a daughter who wasn't hers biologically, but managed to look enough like her to scare him when she stared the way Ella was staring at him now.

"Ella, this is very important and I might need your help because yes, I am afraid."

Her eyes went wide with shock and she whispered, "Daddy, you aren't afraid of anything."

"I'm afraid of having my hearts broken by your mummy."

"Mummy can do that?" She asked.

He laughed, "Oh yes, aside from you, she's the only person who can right now."

Ella seemed perplexed and she questioned slowly, "Daddy, how could I break your hearts?"

He considered the question and then told her quietly, "Ella, do you know that feeling you get inside when you really want something – really truly want something – something special, like a Christmas gift, or a great big hug." She was nodding, a small smile tugging at her lips, "My secret, Ella, is that what I want most in the whole world, in the whole universe, is _you_ and _mummy_."

The girl sighed and offered a grin as she explained, "We can't break your hearts, daddy, we belong to you already."

He stared at her a moment, at the sincerity in her eyes, and when he turned to Clara, he saw the same look in hers and he chuckled lightly, then uttered almost silently, "Then I suppose there's nothing to be afraid of, is there Ella?" Taking a step forward, he elaborated for both her and Clara, "What I have hiding in my pocket is a question, a question for mummy. _For you_, Clara."

Clara shrugged and her head shook and he could tell in the minute shift in her features that she'd figured it out and he took solace in the fact that her lips were shifting in small ticks upward as she called, "Ask the question, Doctor."

Plucking the ring out between his thumb and forefinger, he showed it first to Ella, who looked on curiously as he drifted closer to Clara and held it out to her, quietly saying with a nod, "Clara Oswald, will you come away with me?"


	16. 36 MO - Birthday Gifts

If anyone knew the details of the life of the little girl bouncing across the field in a purple tutu, pink tights, and a yellow shirt, they might be left pondering how she could remains so absolutely… normal. For one, she'd just left the largest space ship in the universe and was currently hopping between her mother and father back up to the small apartment she lived in most of the time; and then there were her parents.

A human mother born thousands of years before she'd taken her first breath. An alien father who toured all of time and space for fun and sometimes took them with him. And while neither was biologically related; they were absolutely hers.

Ella hummed as she listened to her mother calling, "Did we leave the birthday hats in the Tardis kitchen? I could have sworn I packed them in."

The woman was rummaging through the items in a box she held, filled with plates and cutlery and small knick knacks she'd planned on handing out – horns and crackers Ella found amusing; things the girl had responded, when asked, "What sort of things would you like for your birthday?"

In truth, she was perfectly content with just her mum and dad.

They burst through the door to the apartment a mess of giggles, colliding with one another, Ella playfully bumping between them until they could spread out in the living room. She planted herself on the floor, picking up two of her dolls to continue their conversation from the day before, conversation now peppered with references to the trip they'd taken in search of party decorations, but she looked up when her mother began hanging purple strings of lights around, turning to give the girl a smile of appreciation.

Her father pulled his Sonic from his coat pocket and he blasted the lights, earning him a shout of shock from the woman holding them as they began to pulse on their own, "Like Christmas lights!"

"Doctor, it's a birthday, not Christmas."

"I like them, daddy," Ella offered with a chuckle, one that dissolved into giggles when the man gestured to her and smiled up at her mother.

With a sigh, the woman continued stringing the lights around the room – Ella's request – and then moved into the kitchen as her father planted himself on the floor to play with her, tugging a third doll out from underneath the sofa and giving it a light voice that made Ella laugh. He walked the doll across the floor, singing randomness that elicited shrieks of giggles and her mother popped her head in to check on them before unboxing a cake to bring to the table.

"And what would you like for your birthday, dear," her father prompted as the doll, "Third birthday, three years, quite an accomplishment, young lady."

Ella picked up one of her dolls and, in her own high-pitched fake voice, she responded, "A pony."

"A pony?" The Doctor asked with a lowering of his brow as he straightened where he sat and looked to the smile on Ella's face, "Ah, you're joking – obviously you're joking. A pony, who would clean their mess…" he trailed, shaking his head and making a sound of disgust as Ella laughed.

Clara snorted from the table and when they turned, she offered with a point of a pack of napkins, "I'd end up cleaning the mess," then she asked quickly, "What _would_ you like, Ella?"

The girl shifted, dropping the dolls to walk towards her mother and received a small hug when she latched onto her leg, "Mummy, I don't know what I want."

Leaning down, she pecked a kiss to the top of the girl's head and then rubbed at her shoulder, telling her quietly, "It's alright, sweetheart, you have lots of time to think about it."

"And," her father added quickly, gesturing with the doll, "You're going to get loads of presents today."

Ella wrinkled her nose, "Is auntie Linda coming?"

Clara made the same face and Ella watched her look down with the grimace to tell her, "Yes, sorry love, Auntie Linda had to be invited."

"I think she has tentacles and turns into an octopus at night," Ella growled, arms coming up to wiggle around as she stomped around the room, "_And eats babies_."

She turned when her mother released a bellow of a laugh that she quickly calmed as she moved back into the kitchen and Ella was aware that she hadn't corrected her. Maybe Linda was some sort of creature who ate children… she couldn't be certain, but she would stay away from Aunt Linda. And when the woman arrived, she ran, listening to her berate her mother for the child's bad manners.

Ella rushed between legs and hid under tables and she laughed through her grandfather's silly stories, accompanied by silly faces that reminded her of her father. And when it came time for cake and her mother and father stood on either side of her, prompting her to make a wish, she was, again, at a loss. "I don't know what I want, mummy," she'd whispered.

The woman who held her sides as Ella stood atop a chair, keeping the girl safely standing, smiled and told her quietly, "It's ok, sweetie, you can make your wish later."

"Maybe," her father offered, "On a shooting star?"

Ella gave a bounce and clapped her hands just before bending quickly to blow out her candles and she flopped into the chair, waiting excitedly for cake to devour while her parents continued to entertain the guests. Ella pushed a spoonful into her mouth and she felt cold fingers touch her cheek softly, looking up to see the old woman with the warm smile looking down at her and she grinned back, calling through the contents in her mouth, "Hi, Gran."

She knew Linda would tell her not to talk with her mouth full, but Gran, Gran simply smiled and settled herself into the seat next to her and took a plate into her lap, replying politely, "Hello, Ella."

"Gran," Ella began, poking at her frosting with her spoon, "I need to make a wish," she shook her head, "But I don't know what I want."

The older woman's hand came out to pat her knee and she looked to Clara, who was showing Martha the new ring on her finger which earned Clara a squeal of excitement and a tight hug, before grinning back at the child, "That's wonderful, dear."

Ella considered it a moment, then asked, "But I can't think of anything."

Leaning closer, she gestured to where the Doctor was coming up behind Clara, a hand landing casually at her shoulder and Ella smiled as she watched her mother lean into him comfortably, like she always did. "Maybe you can't think of anything because you already have everything you want."

The notion might have struck any other child as odd, but Ella understood. She watched her parents slip away from the questions and the prying eyes, to a corner of the room where they began to converse quickly between one another. Her mother faced her father and she slid her hands around him and he wrapped his arms around her, fingers clasping together at the center of her back to secure her to him and they laughed about something no one else could hear.

With a secret smile, Ella watched them knowing that to anyone else in the room, they were just the Doctor and Clara; just her mum and dad unwinding after a long day planning a birthday party for their little girl. Like herself, they had learned to blend into everything around them, but Ella knew that, like herself, they were just a bit odd. But Gran was right, of course – _Gran was always right_ – they were _exactly_ what she wanted. _And maybe_, she thought with a smirk as she brought a spoonful of cake up to her mouth, a baby sister.


	17. 12 MO - The Doctor and His Nurse

It started with a simple sneeze as they entered the Tardis and Clara glanced up at the man holding a hand to his nose as she balanced the baby on her waist and the diaper bag slung over her other shoulder. Tilting her head slightly, she waited until he'd turned to ask, "Caught yourself a cold, Doctor?"

He waved her away then, a small laugh the girl she held mimicked before he told her, "Put her down for a nap, I'll take us up into the vortex, maybe drift for a bit, eh, Ella?"

"Dadda seep," the girl told him before blowing a raspberry in his direction, spit fluttering over Clara's arm as she grimaced.

By the time she'd changed Ella, read her a story to calm her after a long day at the park, and gotten her to fall asleep, cradled in her arms as she hummed a lullaby, she could hear him moaning as he moved through the corridors. Definitely more than a cold, she knew, settling Ella down in her crib and giving her one last look before following the distressed sounds towards a room she knew was full of bean bags and, occasionally, balloons, and she peered in, finding him face first in a large red seat.

"Doctor?" Clara asked.

"Mmmm," he groaned in response.

"Should I get you anything?"

"Mmmmm."

"Was that a no?" She winced.

"Mmmmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmmmm Ah ah."

Stepping closer, she knelt beside the bean bag and she stroked a hand through his hair several times, watching his back lift on a sigh and when he turned his head to give her better a better angle, she touched his forehead and frowned. "If you were human, I'd be concerned; should I be concerned?"

He turned then, the red fluff underneath him shifting, melting and molding around him as he faced her and smiled weakly, shaking his head, "It's good – human ick; like a cleansing. Be right as rain in the morning."

Clara ran the backs of her fingers over his right cheek and then laid her palm flat to his left, sadly looking over the exhausted look on his face as his eyes closed. "Alright," she told him quietly, "But you need to eat and," she gave his arm a tug, "You need to not sleep in a bean bag that's going to leave your back aching and me listening to you complain about it for the next four days."

He allowed her to bring him to his feet and he chuckled as she lead him back to her bedroom before she peered in at Ella, calmly sleeping, and then up at him, shaking her head, "You're not getting her sick."

"My bedroom's just down the hall," he reminded.

She felt her cheeks blush slightly; she couldn't' remember ever being in his bedroom – didn't think he had a bedroom – and as they made their way to it and then into it, she found herself nervously gripping his elbow instead of gently holding it. "So," she gestured, "Bedroom."

"Bedroom," he repeated slowly, glancing around.

Clara smiled up at him as she lead him towards the oversized bed on the far wall and dropped him into it, again feeling his forehead as he sat at the edge looking up at her. "Must be pretty sick if you're not going to explain what all of this," she gestured at the lights and the gadgets and the soft beeps and clicks, "Is." He only smiled. "Soup? Tea? Sandwich?"

He shook his head and then let it fall against her chest, and Clara was acutely aware that he was nuzzling her breasts with his steaming forehead, but she also knew he'd be clueless about how inappropriate the act was… he was simply soothing his aching head. She sighed and began to slowly run her fingers through his hair again, feeling the exhale he gave against her and she smiled, shaking her head at him.

_The Great Doctor_, she thought in amusement, _come to a grinding halt over the flu_.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Mmmmm," he replied quietly.

"Lay down, I'll bring you something warm to drink," she bent to tell him, pushing at his shoulders and smiling at him when she saw his closed eyes and relaxed face.

He relaxed under her guidance and laid down, letting her pluck the shoes off his oversized feet and she gave one a light squeeze as she watched him cough again, hand coming up and then landing atop his chest. "Something warm," he mumbled. Then he smiled up at her, eyes not opening, to lightly say, "Tea."

She nodded and drifted back out into the hall to check on Ella again, then went to the console to get the girl's baby monitor before finding the kitchen to brew him up a mug of tea and when she entered, he'd propped himself up against the headboard, waiting for her with a sad look to his lap, where his hands fidgeted with one another. Clara set the monitor on the bedside table and she handed him the drink, lifting her chin when he took a small sip to clear his throat – and he chuckled as he drank more, stopping only to sneeze twice and when he was finished, he leaned back.

Clara glanced around and found an old throw tossed over a ratty arm chair and she tugged it to the bed with her, spreading it over his legs before she reached up to touch his face again, offering him a worried sigh before she took his Sonic and buzzed the monitor. "I'll be in my bedroom; but I'll hear you," she told him quietly. "You call out if you need anything, Doctor – I'll be back to check on you when Ella wakes."

He smiled then, slipping down on the bed to rest comfortably as he sighed, "Always there when I need her."

Leaning down to kiss his forehead, she replied on a whisper, "_Always_."


	18. 06 MO - And Here We Go

Ella was trying, Clara knew. She could see the tell-tale signs when she laid her down on her stomach and the baby immediately pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and began to rock back and forth slightly, eyes on a space in front of her, small smile already turning her lips up, little grunts of effort making Clara laugh. But she hadn't expected her to start crawling on the Doctor's watch, and not so suddenly – or so soon.

"What do you mean _she was right there_?" Clara shouted in shock as the Doctor's wide eyes scanned the console room for a third time.

He did a turn and then he began to type furiously into the keyboard on the console as Clara stomped her way up, feeling her body going hot and cold with terror as he uttered, "Scanning for life forms, it should return us, _there we are_, and it should give us _ah_!" He pointed, "She's approaching the ventilation shaft right…" his voice trailed and he took off running.

"Right _where_?" Clara asked roughly as she followed, trailing behind him and his length of legs and soon she found herself alone in the corridor, her breath caught in her throat because Ella could be anywhere in the massive ship and if she managed to find some place not entirely safe… "_Doctor_!"

Clara felt her chest constrict painfully at the thought that the little girl was in danger somewhere. She knew the Tardis could be a complete arse if she wanted to be, but to a child? Swiping at the tears that spilled onto her cheeks, Clara thought about Ella and tried to imagine there was a pattern to her movement that she could try to guess her path with, but she was a wiggly six month old baby.

_A six month old baby_, Clara repeated to herself softly as her lips trembled. A six month old baby who had already been taken from her parents; taken from her home planet; placed in a strange ship with strangers… and now she'd been allowed to crawl away because the Doctor was concerned with the condition of some random setting on his console.

"I'll kill him," she muttered, turning down a corridor and shouting, "_Ella_!"

Clara's feet rushed in competition with her heart as she peered into every open door, rushing through the first floor of the library and then around a giant telescope and then through a room filled with machines she'd never seen. She worked her way under what looked like a tree, bright bulbs hanging from its branches, and she stopped just behind it to release a small sob.

The girl's parents would find them and they'd have to explain, "_We turned away for just a second_."

Isn't that how all tragedies involving children started? You turn your back for just a moment and the child ends up in the pool, or under a car, or down a ventilation shaft. Clara pushed her hands over her cheeks, rubbing at her eyes, and she moved back out into the cooler air in the hall, calling out for the Doctor and the little girl because now she had lost both and the notion was causing the walls to close in on her just a bit.

"Help me!" She shouted.

_Go straight_.

"What?" Clara shook her head against the thought that had suddenly invaded her, but she pointed as it repeated the words and she began walking. "_Please_," she pleaded up at the Tardis, knowing it was her sending her the directions, "This is your space, just… _keep her safe_."

_Turn right_.

"Ok," she replied quietly with a nod. She followed the simple instructions for a few minutes, quietly listening and she found herself heading in the direction of the growing sound of air whooshing back and forth and for a moment she hesitated to take another step. She imagined she'd find something terrible, but when she turned the next corner, she heard the first high pitched squeal of delight.

_Go straight_.

"Ella?" Clara called.

Her feet carried her faster as she listened to the girl screaming happily from a space in front of her, but she couldn't see her. She slowed as she reached an opening in the floor, peering down against an odd sensation of weightlessness and light winds to see the dark tunnel that went on forever and Clara held her breath before she heard a giggle from above her and she looked up to see Ella floating several feet above her, hands held together at her chest as her legs swung about wildly.

"Oh, baby," Clara sighed, raising a hand to try and reach her.

She grunted, holding to the edge of the tunnel space to lean into the air that was blowing her skirt up around her. Clara stretched as far as she could and she shouted out when she lost her footing, but instead of falling, she floated upwards, drifting towards the baby who laughed at her, lips closing into a long mmmm sound. Taking hold of the girl's foot, Clara gave her body a gentle tug, eyes shutting with relief as she held Ella snuggly to her as they continued to drift at the center of the tunnel.

Tucking her legs up, she sat Ella down against her thighs and looked her over as the girl giggled, pointing up at her and continuing to make random quiet sounds. Clara checked her bare legs and arms and then she checked on her small feet and ran her own fingers over each of the girl's, making certain there were no injuries, and when she was satisfied that Ella was completely fine, she then looked around herself. They were suspended almost perfectly in one spot, as if settled atop a cloud of air, and she understood: the Tardis was keeping them safe; the Tardis had kept Ella safe.

"_Thank you_," she whispered upwards into a length of dark tunnel before hearing the Doctor shout out her name from somewhere beside her. "Over here," Clara called.

She saw him awkwardly come stomping towards them, eyes wide, mouth open, and he looked over the tunnel before peering in and uttering, "She's essentially muted the gravitational field in this one tunnel," then he allowed, "Ella must have fallen in."

Clara smiled, watching the realization settling on his face. "Can we baby proof the Tardis now?"

He was nodding slowly in shock as he managed to reply, "Yes, Clara, I'll work on that just as soon as I get you out of there."

He reached and she called, "Be careful, that's how I got stuck in here."

"Reach out to me, Clara," he urged with a quick nod.

Clara stretched her arm and the Doctor grasped onto her fingers, tugging her as Ella shouted, "Da!" and the duo fell lightly into his arms, Ella continuing to shout for the man now smiling back at her.

With a small sheepish laugh, the Doctor told the girl, "That was not very nice, crawling away from me," then he turned to Clara, "When did she learn to crawl?"

Shrugging, Clara responded, "I suppose today." Then she pushed her lips together into an amused pout before allowing, "You can put me down now, Doctor – I promise I won't float away."

The tunnel came alive with a rush of air and Ella squealed, arms flapping towards it as Clara walked away, tossing the Doctor a look to which he replied, "Priority one: Baby proofing the Tardis."


	19. 03 YR - Honeymoon

**03 YEARS OLD**

The Doctor talked her into it, reluctantly, and as they stood in the foyer of Vastra and Jenny's house, Strax in front of them telling them about how he was an excellent wet nurse ("_She really doesn't need that sort of nurse_"), assuring them he could protect the child against all threats ("_No, please, Ella shouldn't be near grenades, at least not this young_"), and detailing his experience with toddler care ("_I'm fairly sure she'll be fine without the extensive Sontaran scrub bath_") Clara found herself turning to look at the man at her side while she kept her palms firmly on their daughter's shoulder. The man's face was frozen in an awkward mix between a grimace and a smile and he finally, slowly, let his eyes drift to meet hers before they both looked down at Ella.

"Mummy, I have a bad feeling about this," the girl murmured lightly, staring up at them and placing her hands atop Clara's.

Nodding curtly, Strax offered, "No worries, Doctor, Clara – your daughter will be in perfectly capable hands here."

Head turning back slowly, Clara glanced towards the stairs and asked, as politely as she could, "Any chance Vastra and Jenny will be home soon?" And she shot a look to the Doctor that shouted: _We can get back in that Tardis and come back in an hour_.

Shaking his head, he eased his features and bent next to Ella, watching the worried look she was giving him as she avoided the look of odd happiness on Strax's face. "Daddy," she began with a shake of her head, "Is he safe?"

"I can assure you, boy, I am absolutely qualified to handle your child care and developmental needs," Strax offered with an excited nod.

Ella turned back to her father and waited for him to laugh lightly and reach for her hands, "Mummy and daddy won't be gone long. We're going to celebrate getting married – you remember, we talked about this."

Her head tilted as she pleaded, "Can't I stay with grandpa?"

Clara knelt to explain, "Sorry, sweetie, grandpa wouldn't understand. You know how we talked about the Tardis and how it's secret." The girl nodded. "You know we'll only really be gone a few hours, at most." She looked up to Strax, "And he's not so bad."

"Yes," the Doctor gestured wildly, "Like a giant potato."

"Sir," Strax spat, "You know how I detest you calling me that," but Ella giggled, and his rigid anger dissipated as Clara and the Doctor stood. "You can help me polish my weaponry, give you a full..."

"NO!" The Doctor and Clara shouted.

Strax grunted, "Fine, we will entertain ourselves with songs…"

"And dolls?" Ella asked, hand reaching down into her overnight bag to pluck a pink doll with a head of tussled yellow hair up to her chest. "Can we play dolls, Mr. Strax?"

Staring up at the girl's parents, Strax frowned and then closed his eyes and offered, "Yes, of course we can play _dolls_."

Exchanging a nervous look, the Doctor placed his hand at the small of Clara's back and he nodded to her, gesturing back to the Tardis parked just outside and she reached out once more, pulling Ella up into her arms to hug her tightly. Ella squirmed with a laugh as Clara nuzzled her nose against the girl's and the Doctor watched them touch heads, smiling knowingly at one another in a way that always warmed his hearts, and then Clara set the girl down.

"You behave for Mr. Strax, Ella – and soon Jenna and Vastra will be here."

Ella grinned up at her shyly as she took a step back towards Strax and then glanced up at the alien that was now staring down at her as she asked, "Play horsie?"

The Doctor closed the front door behind them and he assured Clara, "He won't harm her and he'll let no harm come to her – oddities aside, one of the best choices of babysitter in the universe." Then he led her into the Tardis and rushed up to the controls, turning with a look of glee on his face before asking, "So, Mrs. Smith – where would you like to go?"

Clara chewed her lip anxiously a moment, but at the expression on his face, and the possibilities now cataloguing themselves in her mind, she smiled, giving a hop towards the console and settling her fingers against the metal to reply, "Dunno, Dr. Smith – _surprise me_."

A day later they were standing, covered in pink goop, Clara with an oversized gun hanging limply in her hands while the Doctor waved his Sonic about, scanning for signs of life and when she laughed, he turned to take her in. Hair in a wet mess against her head, clothes tattered and soaked in alien remains, and a large gaping smile on her face as she watched him.

"Surprised," he offered with a shake of his head, sending intestines flying to the ground.

With a satisfied nod and a push of her bottom lip into the top, Clara replied, "Not quite the consummation I'd envisioned, but yeah." She laughed again and he moved towards her, hand reaching up to smooth her bangs away from her face before she sighed up at him, "I've missed this."

"Unexpected enemies; lives hanging in the balance; death and destruction," he laughed, "Chaos."

"Yeah," she breathed with a grin. "But we need to get back to Ella," she added with a sloppy pet of a sticky hand to his chest before she dropped the gun and moved in the direction of the Tardis. "Come on, Doctor," she called, and he hung his head, chuckling softly before he turned to survey the damage, and then he moved behind her, following the trail of footprints on the pavement that lead into the Tardis where he found her shoes, discarded just inside the door.

"Clara?" He called, glancing down at the jacket just near the first corridor entrance. The Doctor set the Tardis into the time vortex just before following the trail of clothing towards their bedroom and he found her inside the bathroom stripping herself of her stockings, letting them drop with a thick pop to the ground.

Turning to watch him lean into the door frame, Clara reached behind herself and undid the clasp of her bra and let it hang on her shoulders as she raised a finger and crooked it, summoning him to her with a devious smile he mimicked as he pushed off and crossed the small space to lock lips with her. He could feel her hands snaking his coat off and he kicked of his shoes as she worked the buttons of his waistcoat and then his shirt and then his trousers.

The shower flickered on automatically when they stepped inside and the Doctor dropped his mouth to her neck as she tossed her bra aside and eased her fingers past the elastic of his boxers to cup her hands over his buttocks and pull him closer to her. He laughed, shifting back and pecking a kiss to her lips as they both worked themselves out of the last bits of clothes that ended up discarded in a wet pile at the back of the shower and he moved closer to her with a sigh, fingers digging into her hair to hold her.

"When did I fall in love with you?" He asked her quietly as she molded her naked body to his, hands moving slowly at his sides as she smiled up at him and shrugged. The Doctor met his lips to her forehead and he listened to her laughing softly, hips starting to sway against him, creating a friction that made him groan as his eyes closed.

"_You_," Clara whispered, "Have always loved me." She slipped back and took hold of him, stroking at him slowly, methodically, as he kept his eyes trained darkly on hers, "It was just a matter of getting you to realize it."

He dropped his mouth to hers hungrily and moaned when her thumb drifted slowly over him before slipping away as she lifted on tip toe to plant her hands on his shoulders and in one swift movement, he hoisted her up to his waist, smiling into her as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. "Maybe," he sighed against her lips between kisses, "You're right."

Clara shifted back and smiled, telling him quietly, "I'm always right."

He laughed while she kissed each of his cheeks as she lifted her body just enough for him to guide himself into her slowly, reveling in the way her head dropped so that her temple was pressed to his cheek as she exhaled against his neck with each deepening testing dip he took until he filled her. The Doctor held her firmly, feeling the shifts of her body onto him and he realized this was the first time it wasn't some stolen moment with Ella sleeping in the next room. He also realized this was the first time they made love as husband and wife and something about the notion drove him forward.

Leaning her back into the wall, he closed his eyes against the torrent of water now washing over them as he thrust himself up into her and he listened to the small gasps she offered in response, arms now tightly gripping onto him, knowing this was the first time he was taking charge. And Clara gave into him happily, not bothering to muffle the low moans he was eliciting with his movements or the shout when his hand came off the wall to reach between them to tease at her, urging her end to hasten its arrival to join with his.

Clara knew that while they'd made love before, this time was different. This wasn't the quick satisfaction of exhausted parents, this was the consummation of something that had been building within them for years and as she shuddered over his length, burrowing deeply within her, she shifted back to catch his lips. Clara tried to convey with her kiss just how much she loved him. With each swirl of her tongue around his, she willed him to know how full she felt when she was with him and as he battled back, she understood he wanted her to know the same.

She released him to gasp at his movements, eyes closed as the shower continued to pour over her head, rolling warmly off her face and over her breasts to pool between them as he finally slowed. Clara gripped him as he moved them out of the shower's spray and she blinked her eyes open before reaching up to swipe the hair from his face to smile at him as she tried to control her breathing, feeling him expelling the last of himself within her and understanding that while the chances were minute – their physiology was, he'd told her before, not entirely compatible – Clara hoped.

And the thought took her breath away.

She _hoped_ for another child and as she lowered herself off him with a grin over the foolish difference in their heights, she felt her heart thudding in her chest at the notion as she turned. Her hands met her abdomen lightly just before he wrapped his arms around her from behind, fingers threading through hers as they moved back into the warmth of the water and when he spoke, it was quiet and honest.

"The odds, Clara… it would be _nearly_ impossible." She glanced up to see the knowing look on his face before he smiled lightly, nudging her temple with his chin, "Not _entirely_ impossible."

She laughed as he shifted away, finding the soap to begin lathering her back and she closed her eyes as his fingers massaged over her body and it seemed like only a moment later they were emerging, wrapped in towels, to begin the search for clean clothes. But Clara caught the Doctor's wrist and swung him back into her with a smirk as she tugged on the cloth wrapped around her, letting it fall away.

He raised an eyebrow as she pulled his towel off and then pressed herself flush against him, and he told her with a broken voice, "We have to pick up Ella."

"Doctor," Clara responded lightly, "We're on our honeymoon." She stepped up to kiss him softly as she added, "And you have a time machine."

With a smile, he allowed her to push him back towards the bed and once they fell onto it, Clara's palms pressed into the comforter on either side of his head, the Doctor nodded slowly, whispering, "Double the odds in our favor?"

"Triple, even," she replied with a small tilt of her head.

With a growl that dissolved into laughter, the Doctor rolled to pin her into the bed, knees prying her legs apart so he could nestle himself against her, beginning a small rhythmic motion against her to work himself back up. But then he looked down at Clara's smile and asked sadly, "What if we can't?" His head dropped, "What if," he stopped to glance down at her stomach. "What if I can't give you what you want because of what I am?"

Clara inhaled deeply and she reached up to pull him to her, holding him tightly against her to reassure him, slowly stroking her fingers through his damp hair and she told him, "Doctor, you've already given me a beautiful daughter I love with all of my heart and a wonderful husband I couldn't imagine being without," she gave him a small push to meet his eyes as she smiled and rubbed a thumb over his cheek, "You've given me enough for a lifetime of happiness."

"But, Clara," he began, except she shook her head.

"If the universe wants to give us something _nearly_ impossible, we'll take it; if not – I'm content, Doctor," she nodded. "I am _absolutely_ content with you and Ella."

Lowering himself to her, he brushed his lips against hers and he sighed, "As am I."

Several weeks later, listening to Ella climbing onto the bed to cuddle against her mother, the Doctor lifted himself up on his elbow and he smiled down at the two. He hadn't realized just how empty his hearts had been until he could spend hours watching them sleep; filling his chest with warmth he hadn't felt in hundreds of years. He slipped from the bed quietly and made his way to the console, shifting the screen and typing quickly before reading the results, blue word standing silently within a spinning bubble and he sighed.

And he _hoped _for something _not entirely_ impossible_._


	20. 07 MO - Food Fight

Clara had gone out for a moment to pick up baby cereal. It wasn't something she'd thought about when they'd first stocked up on baby supplies – she wasn't exactly baby-ready in her mind yet and it wasn't like the Doctor was anywhere near as well versed. At least, she didn't think so.

He had the playing part down, and the talking, and the soothing through the night to let Clara get sleep… and the adorable cuddles and random songs, but Clara knew he was avoiding Ella's diapers. And he while he never complained about feeding her, he was consistent in handing her over to 'fly the Tardis' or 'fix the Tardis' or some other mumbled sentence that ended with 'Tardis' just as soon as it was time to burp her.

She supposed it was normal for a dad, Clara thought to herself with a smile.

Of course, now Ella was crawling. She was babbling quietly on occasion. And she was ready for bits of smashed up foods; more than just formula and water. She paid for the boxes of powdered cereal and the Baby Bullet and for a moment she stared down at the purchased with a pang of sadness. Ella's mother should be doing this, not her, and she carted the items out into the parking lot with a sniffle and a long breath of resolve.

And entered the Tardis to find the Doctor handing Ella a fish finger dipped in custard.

"No," she shouted, rushing forward and watching the Doctor's face shift into one of terror. "No, Doctor, _not_, no," she rambled, settling the bags she held down beside the pack-n-play Ella sat within to reach inside and strip the child of the item, grimacing because she immediately began to wail.

Clara dropped the fish finger into the Doctor's bowl and she scowled at him as she lifted the baby girl into her arms, body giving several small hops as she rubbed at her back muttering an apology. The Doctor shook his head, seemingly in confusion, and he uttered, "What have I done wrong?"

"Fish fingers and custard?" Clara cried with a half laugh at the innocent terror on his face.

He gestured at her, "You said, _you said_," he pointed, "She was ready for solid foods."

Nodding, Clara explained, "I don't mean we buy her a steak dinner and hand her a fork and knife, Doctor."

Settling the bowl down, he scratched at his head and then shook it, "Solid would insinuate that, in actuality, Cl…"

"She's a baby; you don't give a baby actual food," Clara interrupted.

Tilting his head, the Doctor began to counter, but Clara brought her hand up, eyes closed, and she inhaled and held it. Patience, she told herself quickly, before nodding and listening to him groan his confused annoyance. And Clara understood – he was properly confused and, she saw when she opened her eyes, properly afraid he'd done something very wrong. She managed a half laugh, gaining his attention, before she spoke.

"Doctor, does Ella have teeth?"

He frowned, glaring at the child now chewing on a finger with reddened eyes. "Not quite, you think they're coming in, but you're not entirely sure."

She smiled, "Then how could she possibly chew on a fish finger?"

With a shrug, he offered, "I suppose she couldn't."

Taking a step towards him, Clara gave his elbow a reassuring squeeze and sighed, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but she has to transition from liquid to mush first, we can work on fish fingers – _and I promise you, if she's still with us, we will_ – when she's a little older."

His bowed head came up slightly, cheeks going pink as he smiled and reached for the bowl again, asking lightly, "Custard?"

"Sugar?" Clara questioned.

He frowned and then told Ella, "_Your mum_ – can't even have a touch of sugar."

"Doctor," Clara warned, "Don't call me mum; I'm auntie Clara, remember?"

The Doctor offered a sly grin as she shifted away from him to bounce Ella against her, gaining herself a small chuckle and a slobbery touch to the face from the girl now smiling at her. Her mouth pressed together as she hummed at her before she dropped her head down to give her a light hug. With a sigh, Clara looked to the purchased items and then back at the Doctor and she handed Ella back, watching the girl's frown before Ella turned to begin reaching for the Doctor's bowtie.

"I'm going to put these things away and when I get back, we'll have a talk about what _solid_ means."

He raised a hand to salute and dropped it away with a grin when she shook her head and laughed. The Doctor watched Clara pluck the bags up and throw him one last warning look before she disappeared into the corridors and he turned to Ella. "Mummy is cross with daddy."

Ella smiled.

Dipping his finger into the custard, he brought it up to Ella's lips and watched her frown with confusion before opening her mouth to chomp onto his finger, small tongue dabbing at the substance before she backed away and then reached for his finger with her hands. She babbled at his finger as she held it tightly and then clamped onto it again.

He nodded at her words and whispered, "That's right, Ella, and custard is most definitely a _mush_."


	21. 18 MO - This Much

They made their way up the last set of steps laughing, Clara just behind the toddler she'd set down only moments ago. The little girl with the flowery dress and leggings bent forward and reached for each upcoming incline with a giggle before she lifted herself onto it, passing glances back at her mother for approval and Clara obliged. With a wide smile, brow high, and her hands clapping, but ready to catch the girl if she fell, Clara cheered Ella on until they were on their landing.

"Oh, that's my big girl," Clara called happily.

She adjusted the grocery bags on her left arm as the baby girl stomped each foot in place, squealing with glee before lifting her arms up as Clara dipped down to pick her up. They walked towards her apartment with a shared song Clara sang while Ella hummed and mumbled along with and when she pushed through the front door, she sighed with relief, locking the door behind her to put the girl down in her playpen so she could set their groceries in the kitchen.

It was a normal Thursday afternoon and Clara knew the routine ahead of her: fix dinner for them, struggle to get the girl to eat all of her food, give her a quick bath before settling down in her bed to read to her until she fell asleep. Once she was in her crib, Clara could concentrate on school work – the grading of papers, preparing for the next day's class, worrying about covering rent and child care expenses. And all the while she'd be listening for the whirring of the Tardis landing on the lawn behind her building.

She knew it wasn't often he missed an evening. Sometimes she thought he enjoyed getting mashed peas spit at him, or splashing the bathroom with soapy water while the girl laughed at him, and she knew he loved to cradle her in his arms as he strolled along the hallway telling her grand tales of Ice Warriors and Weeping Angels so Clara could get her work done. The Doctor knew playing daddy allowed him to play with mummy and, with a smile easing onto her tired lips, she knew she wouldn't mind it this evening as well.

"Mummy," she heard as she pulled out a tray of frozen chicken fingers out and preset the oven before rummaging through the fridge for leftover broccoli for herself and a small plastic tub of carrot slices for Ella. "Mummy!"

"Yes, sweetheart," she called back, settling the items down on the counter and listening.

Sometimes she missed the sound of the Tardis playing around the clock. She'd gotten used to it, living aboard it for almost a year, and knowing how different it was to the real world made long pauses in sound like this one all the more worrisome.

"Ella?" Clara questioned. She waited a moment more before rushing out from the kitchen and across the small hall to the living room where she found the girl glaring down at a photograph. "Ella?"

She beamed up at her, eyes disappearing as she shouted, "Daddy," waving the photo of the Doctor up into the air before bringing it back down into her lap to grip tightly.

With a relieved sigh, Clara moved towards the crib and bent slightly, pushing her hair behind her ears to peer down at the photo to tell her, "Yes, Ella, that's daddy."

"Where's daddy?" Ella asked quietly, head coming up to look around. "Daddy busy?"

Clara straightened with a glance towards the window, "I suppose daddy is busy tonight."

"Mummy," the girl began quietly, "I love daddy."

She smiled and nodded, "I know you do; you love your daddy very much." Clara knelt next to the playpen, watching Ella push off the thin matt to grip the edges to smile at her, tilting her head slightly as Clara told her, "And daddy loves you more than anything, baby girl."

Ella chuckled, then hung back slightly and asked, "Mummy?"

"Yes, Ella," Clara responded with a nod.

"Daddy loves mummy," Ella told her simply, a small shy grin tugging her lips up before she chuckled and dropped herself back to find the photo.

Pressing her hands into her lap, Clara laughed lightly to herself as she repeated, "Yes, Ella, daddy loves mummy."

She found her cheeks warming at the thought, because Clara was sure her words were true, but he'd never said them aloud and she imagined the man would flounder if put on the spot. Standing slowly, she listened to the beeping of the oven in the kitchen before the girl called to her again. Clara turned and looked into the playpen, seeing the girl lying on her back, photo held between her chubby fists and she looked between the photo and Clara with a sort of curiosity.

"Mummy loves daddy?" Ella asked.

Reaching forward, Clara smiled down at her and she nodded, telling her brightly, "Mummy loves daddy very much."

"How much?" Ella prompted, arms coming apart to slap at the matt on either side of her before giggling at the sound she'd made.

Clara watched the girl smiling up at her and she poked her belly, listening to her squeal before asking, "How much does mummy love Ella?"

"A lot a lot," the girl told her with a set of nods, "'Finity a lot," she sang, repeating words Clara had told her many times before.

With a small sigh and a nuzzle of her knuckle to the soft skin of her daughter's cheek, Clara told her calmly and with a half-grin as she admitted, "Mummy loves daddy infinity a lot."


	22. 05 YR - A Matter of Timing

If he were anywhere else, he might have considered it an ambush – Clara entering from one corridor while Ella skipped in from another, each twisting their hands anxiously in front of them with the same perplexed look on their face. He turned, palms pressing roughly into the edge of the machine behind him as his eyes darted from Clara's brown eyes and her hint of an awkward smile to Ella's green eyes and the grin that shifted into a frown. He considered them, _his family_, and knew… _it could still be an ambush_.

"I have to talk to you," Clara called.

"Daddy, I have a question," Ella countered.

The little girl landed with a soft exhale against his right leg just as Clara shifted away, seemingly unaware that the child has been approaching as well and the Doctor caught the quickening of her breath and the way she turned away to smile just before she reached for the console to lean against. He peered at her, unable to tell if the greenish tone to her skin was something he should be concerned about, or whether it was the lighting in the Tardis, but Ella tugged at his trousers, demanding his attention.

Bending slightly, he gave her a reassuring grin and nodded, "Yes, Ella, what is it?"

The girl squirmed, passing a quick look to her mother before twisting her lips and finally telling him, "All the other kids in school – _well_, most of the other kids in school – they have baby brothers and sisters and I was wondering two things."

He released a nervous laugh, hands coming together to rub before he gestured at her and nodded.

Ella shrugged, "Where do they come from? I know you said other kids don't have time machines, and that's why I shouldn't talk about the Tardis and our trips, daddy… but do babies come from the stars? Like wishes and rainbow flavored licorice?"

Clara was the one to chuckle now, looking down at the girl and then meeting the Doctor's gaze as she allowed, "Sometimes children come from the stars." He watched her push away the pained expression that had drifted onto her face knowing one day they'd have to explain to Ella where she came from and why they had her. "But while a few special babies are gifts from the stars, most babies come from their mummy and daddy."

Ella's forehead came together in a knot of confusion as she looked up between them and asked, "How?"

The Doctor and Clara exchanged a glance before Clara knelt in front of their daughter and took her hands with a small smile up at him, "Every mummy and every daddy has a special place inside where they keep little pieces of themselves and when they're ready, they sort of start searching for two pieces to fit together to start growing a baby."

"Like making puzzles," Ella prompted.

The Doctor dropped delicately to her side, hand reaching out to give Clara's shoulder a rub of appreciation before he offered, "But sometimes, even though they love one another very much – they can't find two pieces that fit together quite right."

Eyes slowly working over the Doctor's face and then Clara's, Ella pursed her lips sadly and nodded, "So some parents can only find one puzzle to put together and some _never_ make puzzles." She frowned, but then looked back up at them with a smirk and nodded, "I'm glad my pieces fit."

Clara reached for her, pulling her into a tight hug and the Doctor watched the girl lay her head down on her shoulder as Clara smiled at him, a gleam of hope in her eyes. He dropped slightly to sit on his legs, sighing as Clara shifted Ella back and pressed her palms into the girl's cheeks to tell her quietly, "Ella, your father and I, we love you so much, _so very much_, that we wanted to make another baby just like you and we've been working on that puzzle for a while now…"

At her side, the Doctor sniffled loudly, lifting his hands to rub away tears before the girl in front of them could see them, but she had and she reached out for his face, rubbing at his cheeks the way Clara had rubbed at hers and she smirked at him, telling him quietly, "It's ok, daddy."

"Doctor," Clara sighed, her hand slipping into his to hold as he nodded to her. "We may have found the right pieces."

He froze, staring into her as she nodded and then laughed through eyes brimming with tears. "We did?" He questioned on an exhale, then he repeated quickly, "_We did_?"

Ella jumped back when he launched himself at Clara, arms enveloping her as his body turned, bringing her down half atop him as he hit the ground with a laugh and a wince. Ella groaned and then grimaced when they kissed, covering her eyes and shouting, "That's gross, daddy."

Releasing Clara, the Doctor gripped her arms, thumbs rubbing over the fabric of her light cardigan as he asked, "How long? I mean, how far along? _Are you sure_, Clara?"

She was laughing as she nodded, "I didn't want to say anything until I was sure – mixed biology and all, I was afraid something would go wrong – but yes, almost four months along and everything is perfectly fine. I knew I had to tell you because you're thick, even I can see it…"

The Doctor frowned, looking down at her belly, pressed into his side as he lamented, "I didn't want to insult you by asking if you'd put on some weight."

Clara smiled, wiping her tears as they fell onto his nose and whispering, "I'm pregnant; _I'm allowed_."

"Mummy," Ella whined, "Have you stopped kissing yet?"

Shifting back as the Doctor sat up, Clara watched him lift the girl into his lap to pull her hands away and lay them in her lap before he hugged her to his chest as she smiled. Ella tilted her head back, nuzzling her nose against the Doctor's and Clara shifted to sit next to them on the floor of the console, the Doctor's arm immediately around her to hold her closer.

She touched her stomach and Ella looked to her curiously, asking, "Is that where the baby is?"

There was an excited twinge of anticipation in her gut as she looked to the Doctor's satisfied smile and nodded as Ella shifted forward to press her small hand to her before laying her head in her lap, legs dangling over the Doctor's. "Babies have to be kept safe inside mummy until they're ready."

Clara leaned into the Doctor as Ella snuggled closer to her, resting her forehead against her stomach, fingers slipping underneath her blouse to lie warmly against her skin. "I bet the baby is the best puzzle." She peered up at them and smirked, "Because it has the best mummy and daddy pieces."

The Doctor tilted forward, hands finding the girl's sides to tickle and Clara laughed at them as they rolled away from her to continue their gleeful giggles. She dropped a hand to her abdomen and sighed because despite her anxiety over the having an alien baby, she knew Ella was right. And she knew the girl who was now sitting atop the Doctor's chest threatening to tickle his neck would be the best piece of all for this baby – the perfect big sister.


	23. 11 MO - Delivery Confirmation

The Doctor didn't know why he'd chosen to run instead of take the Tardis. In hindsight, he probably misread a map along the way and thought her apartment complex was closer than he had originally thought when he'd excitedly rushed out of UNIT headquarters with one last smile and enthusiastic thanks to Kate for procuring what he needed so quickly. Or maybe he was simply excited because it was Mother's Day and he had the perfect gift for Clara.

He didn't slow his paces though, knowing if he continued to run, he could simply collapse on her sofa, ready to watch her pop open the flap of an envelope with one wary eye on him. And she would smile. The Doctor knew she would smile and it was that contentment – _that happiness_ – he ran for and when he was finally standing in front of her door, present tucked beneath his arm, knuckles rapping in a dance just under the number of her flat, he did so with a gaping smile as he gasped.

When the door opened, however, he frowned, straightening, and rubbing the sweat from his brow before he nodded, trying to contain the burning breaths in his lungs as he took in the sour look on Dave Oswald's face before he asked lightly, "Clara home?"

"The Doctor," Dave moaned, turning towards the footsteps coming quickly. Barefoot and light over the carpeting and she smiled at him as she moved underneath her father's arm and took hold of the Doctor's, pulling him through the hall and into the living room of her apartment where he found Ella babbling up at him from a pack-n-play.

Ella pushed up to stand, gripping the padded edge with one hand and slapping a stuffed elephant at it with the other and she grinned, feet stomping in place as she shouted, "Dadda!"

With an easy smile and a calming set of hearts, the Doctor called her name softly and reached for her, plucking her up into his arms while keeping a tight hold on Clara's present as he did a twirl with Ella, listening to her talk about her grandfather's silly face and her mummy's morning tears. "_Dadda_?" Dave questioned. "You said _you_ adopted her, Clara."

She nodded, moving to the Doctor's side and reaching up to take the folder and place it on the coffee table as the Doctor began to protest, receiving a stern stare in response, "I did adopt her, dad, and the Doctor is her father."

"Bit of an oversight, I think – you not mentioning it."

"Guess I thought it was obvious," Clara told him, dropping her head slightly before she raised her hands and sighed, "We have to get going and Ella's barely ready."

"Going?" The Doctor asked quietly. "Were we going somewhere today? Thought we might stay in, celebrate some because it's today – you know, _today_."

Clara smiled up at him and she gripped his forearm, telling him quietly, "I know what day it is, Doctor."

"She's got important things to do _today_," Dave told him lowly before shifting to Clara, "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Smirking up at him as Ella mumbled something behind her the Doctor frowned at, Clara shook her head and explained plainly, "I told you, this is something I want to do with Ella."

"And _him_?"

"_And_ him," Clara affirmed. She moved forward, giving her father a small push and he twisted lightly before going to lift his hands to the baby girl the Doctor held. A girl who smiled and dropped into those waiting arms and Dave's demeanor shifted when he brought her to his chest, smiling for her and pecking a kiss to her forehead.

"Alright, Ella," he told her lightly with a soft set of bounces that earned him a giggle. "You be a good girl for your mummy and I promise, I'll see you very soon." He hugged her as she mumbled 'k gampa' and then Dave handed her back to Clara, kissing her forehead softly before telling her, "Don't disappear on me again."

She laughed and nodded, "Promise I won't, dad." They watched him retrieve his jacket and pull it on before going towards the door and that's when Clara turned to the Doctor and explained, "We're going to see my mum."

"Clara," he warned, "I can't travel back in time."

Shaking her head, she corrected, "Her grave, just…" she winced slightly when she looked up at him, "To talk to her a bit." Nodding, she added, "I know, she's not there – _it's not real_ – but it's a comfort of sorts for us _silly_ humans."

The Doctor reached out to touch her cheek, smiling when Ella grabbed hold of his wrist, squeezing it lightly as she watched her mother. "Clara, it's not silly at all."

Nodding her appreciation, she moved into her bedroom to grab a light coat and she slipped one on Ella, and they quietly made their way through the streets towards the cemetery, the Doctor commentating Ella's interest in the world around her as Clara smiled. She sighed when they reached the gates, glancing up at him and asking lightly, "What did she say, about my father?"

The Doctor smiled, "She said she liked his face and she would miss him too."

Ella gave her a cheeky grin when she looked down at her as they rolled over the grass and between headstones and the Doctor could see the way Clara was tightly gripping the handle on the pram nervously. "We come together every year on her birthday, dad and I," Clara told him. "I thought maybe Ella and I could come together for Mother's day." She turned, "Is that morbid?"

"_A bit_," the Doctor allowed with a shrug, "But it's also meaningful – she should know her grandmother, even if she's not here. It would be a good time to remind her of how brave she was, how eccentric and wonderful. And also a reminder that our time in this world is fleeting; something she might forget, father being who he is."

They shared a smile as Clara came to a stop, looking down at the baby who watched her with curious eyes because she was on the verge of tears again and she admitted, "I cried this morning when I picked her up; I think I scared her a bit."

"She told me," he whispered. "She didn't understand why mummy was so sad."

"Just the thought of leaving her," she trailed, looking up, "If anything happened to me, Doctor…"

He reached for her, pulling her into a half-hug where he reassured her, "Nothing will happen to you, Clara, and I will always be there for Ella."

Shifting away with a small nod, she undid the restraints on the little girl who squealed with delight, and she lifted her, kneeling to settle her thumbs in Ella's hands as the girl stood in front of her. "Mum," she whispered, "This is my daughter; this is Ella." Passing a glance up at the man standing behind her, she shrugged, "This is the Doctor, he's sort of…he's Ella's father, and he's my…" Bowing her head, she sighed, "It's all complicated."

"Mumma, walk?" Ella called, trying to pull free from Clara's grasp.

She laughed, "We found her in trouble, mum, and we rescued her – but she didn't have a mum and dad to take her to, so we've taken care of her. We've raised her, mum, just like our own and there was really no decision to make – we've kept her." Nodding slowly, she elaborated with a smile, "We've fallen in love with her."

The Doctor stood behind her, listening as she quietly spoke to the dark tombstone while Ella bounced or watched birds, or moaned her discontent until Clara picked her up and rocked her. And when she finally turned back to look at him, she did so with tears in her face that he wiped away with soft swipes of his thumbs before stepping to the pram to pull the envelope out to hand her.

"What's this?" Clara asked, looking between the girl now napping in her arms and the manila envelope the Doctor held.

"Trade," he told her softly, reaching out and taking Ella before Clara took the item from him, holding it tightly and eyeing him as he began to sway, watching the soft covering of auburn hair on Ella's head flutter with the breeze. "Go on, it's your present."

Clara undid the string at the top as she peered at him curiously, asking lightly, "Present for what?"

The Doctor waited, watching her carefully pull the small stack of papers out of the envelope to flip through them before her eyes went wide and she looked up at him. "Happy Mother's day, Clara," he told her quietly.

"This is her birth certificate," she gasped. "This is…" she glanced back down at the papers and then back up at him, "Doctor, these aren't adoption papers, these are… _this is_… she's _my daughter_." She released a small laugh, "What did you do?"

Tilting his head into the wind, sending his hair back away from his eyes, he admitted, "_Might_ have pulled a few strings with a few people I _might_ have saved along the way."

"She's ours," Clara laughed. "Ella Oswald," she breathed then, stepping closer to him and pushing the papers back into the envelope to hold securely against her before reaching to touch the girl's hand resting on her stomach. "Doctor, she's our _daughter_."

He nodded, bending slightly to agree, "She's _our_ daughter, Clara."

Stepping on tip toe, Clara kissed him lightly on the lips, dropping back momentarily to shyly stare at her mother's grave before she turned again and looked to his crooked grin. One he turned to look at the sleeping child he held, a momentary rush of adrenaline flowing through his veins as it dawned on him in a way it hadn't before: Ella was their daughter. He leaned to kiss the girl's forehead and when he looked back at Clara, she was standing before him with a calm smile on her face and wet cheeks.

"Go on," he teased, "Say it."

Clara nodded and she exhaled simply, "I love you."

Grinning awkwardly, he stammered, "I expected a thank you, but, a, that… _that's_…"

Shaking her head, she laughed and wiped at her tears and she stepped closer again, hand wrapping around his arm to still his movements as they watched Ella blink her eyes open at them, immediately looking to Clara to whisper, "Hi mumma."

"Hello, my baby girl," she replied quietly, reaching out when the girl twisted towards her and Clara turned to the headstone again, smiling as she snuggled the girl who giggled softly at her chin. The Doctor stepped forward, a lazy grin on his face as he swung an arm over Clara's shoulder and looked to the name in front of them. The remembrance of a woman the Doctor knew deserved more than she'd gotten in life and then he looked to the duo at his side.

"Life is too short, too cruel sometimes," he told Clara softly, leaning his chin to her temple and smiling when Ella reached for his bow tie to tug. He understood Clara's declaration came without the expectation of reciprocation, but he knew – looking at that grave – the reality of the universe and when he shifted to meet her eyes, he knew he'd seen those very eyes close for the last time. He sighed as he touched her hair and then looked to Ella.

Taking a breath, he looked back to Clara waiting patiently, knowing – as she always did – that there was something grand on his mind that he needed time to release. He palmed her cheek and she shifted, kissing his hand and then leaning into it. "Life _is_ short and cruel, Doctor," Clara told him before raising her eyebrows at him hopefully, "But it's also _miraculous_."

Slowly nodding, his smile disappeared and Clara straightened slightly until he leaned forward and told her simply and firmly, "I love you."

She offered a lopsided grin, "That's not what I was looking for; you didn't have to…"

But the Doctor shook his head, "I love you, and Ella, and I needed to tell you."

Now Clara tilted her head, eyes widening slightly as she barked, "Is something wrong?"

Ella complained in her arms and the Doctor laughed, hand soothing over the little girl's hair before he placed it on Clara's shoulder, other hand reaching for the package of documents he'd given her. "Clara, everything is perfectly right."

Her lips were twitching, wanting to twist into a grin, but afraid to as she watched him. The Doctor smiled calmly as he looked her over, waiting for the anxiety to ease out of her features, replaced with an overwhelming adoration that melted his hearts as she nodded slowly, repeating, "Perfectly right."


	24. 04 YR - Always Right Here

Clara had always heard, about children, that if you turn your back for just a moment, they could get themselves into the most ridiculous jams. She understood the notion to be true, even before she had her own. The kids she would babysit; the ones she would nanny; and eventually the cherubic little bouncy girl, dark hair in pigtails at either side of her head, and always with a bit of a dance in her step as she fluttered around them, wild story or question readily on her small pouty lips.

"Daddy," she'd asked just seconds before, "Is this _really_ the biggest supermarket in the universe?"

The Doctor nodded, raising his chin proudly before doing a twirl – arms held out to wave around, narrowly missing Clara's head as she instinctively ducked away, just before telling Ella, "Of course it is, why would I tell you such a thing if it weren't!" He dropped a finger to poke the girl's nose, eliciting a small giggle, before expanding upon the number of aisles and products and how many distributors they catered to and Clara should have known, looking down at the curious wonder on her face…

Except when she glanced down a moment later to ask if her daughter wanted a sort of Cheerios for breakfast, or an oddly colored box of wheat puffs in alien head shapes, she was shocked to find the girl was no longer at her side. Her eyes lifted to the man examining a marshmallow concoction on a higher shelf with interest and she asked, "_Doctor_, where's Ella?"

"She's right here," he pointed downward at his side, eyes scanning the box. Clara waited, turning and trying to keep herself calm as the Doctor shifted his eyes to her and, upon seeing the look on her face, glanced downward and gasped, "Clara, _where's Ella_?"

"_Biggest supermarket in the universe_," Clara spat, turning with one hand rising to press into her forehead as she understood panicking – what she wanted to do – was probably not the best. She turned back to the Doctor, hands coming together to clasp as she pointed at him, "You find a manager, someone in charge, get them to make an announcement of some sort and don't," she closed her eyes, "Don't get distracted by cookies or shiny things!"

"Clara," he began, but she pointed again, eyes opening to glare. "Ok," he told her with a nod.

"I'll search for her; she couldn't have gotten too far," she called as he began to run towards the front of the store, or at least she imagined it was the front of the store.

For a moment she felt her chest constricting as she imagined trying to find the both of them in the store and she had to lean back against the cart to grip it to keep from losing her balance. The world around her had, somehow, become a blur of sounds and movement that startled her and she closed her eyes, an old memory resurfacing in a flash.

The smell of sand and ocean and the call of seagulls overhead as she shouted out, "_Mummy_!"

Clara hadn't thought about that day in a long time; she couldn't because the memory always ended the same, her vision refocusing on the familiar figure of her mother cutting through a crowd and sending the sand in front of her flying as she fell to her knees to pull her into a tight hug. Her hands had been trembling against her back as she quietly assured into her cheek.

"_Baby, it's ok; I've got you_."

"_I got lost_," she'd muttered through tears.

"_And I've found you; you're alright_. _I'm here_."

She'd never thought about her mother's fear that day. As a child, she'd barely had time to register her own before the woman had swooped her up. But she knew it'd left a lasting impression. For the longest time crowds frightened her, sending her into her mother's thigh to grip hold of her and she couldn't hear the ocean. The rumbling of waves crashing against sand made her heart beat roughly in her chest.

Clara opened her eyes and looked out at the bright lights of the supermarket and she took several long breaths, calming her nerves and listening. She moved away from her cart and found one of the openings that cut through horizontally across the shopping aisles, taking a moment to swiftly swing her head up and down each aisle, stopping whenever she saw a small child, or a confused adult. She was afraid because Ella wandered aimlessly, lost in a thought, and she _explored_.

Things the Doctor and Clara often encouraged in their girl.

Things that now had separated them.

"Ella!" She shouted, not caring about the odd looks she received.

Continuing down, she clenched her jaw, promising herself she wouldn't let the fear make her cry, and she imagined the girl was hunched over a display of dolls, finger poking at them because they weren't like Earth dolls. Her daughter would be so engrossed she wouldn't hear her; she wouldn't hear whatever management said over the speakers. She'd simply play until she looked up and they weren't there.

The thought crippled Clara. She had promised her, just as her mother had promised her – she would always find her; she would always be there. "_Mummy_!"

Clara stopped, turning quickly as her heart gave a jolt at the terrified scream she knew had come from her daughter and she ran towards it, calling out loudly, "Ella, _where are you_?"

"_Mummy_!"

The voice trembled and Clara knocked a set of cans off an end shelf as she reached out to stop her momentum to turn towards the little girl standing in the middle of the aisle, the beginning of tears streaming over her reddened cheeks. Clara rushed towards her, a laugh ready as she wrapped her arms around Ella and brought her up off the ground and into her chest, feeling her legs dangling against her thighs.

"Sweetheart, it's ok, I've got you now, you're safe," she breathed, kissing her cheek several times and touching her forehead to the girl's as Ella continued to cry.

"Mummy, I got lost," Ella told her after a ragged breath.

"And I told you, I would always find you," she asserted, shifting the girl's weight so she could cradle her left arm under her bottom as she rubbed soothing circles on her back with her right. "I've found you," she told her firmly, "You're alright, I'm here."

Ella was nodding against her, sniffles lightening as they began to walk back towards the cart. A cart Clara imagined it would take them quite some time to find, when the speaker crackled to life and Clara heard the Doctor's nervous laugh before he called out, "Ella! _Ella, it's your daddy_. If you find mummy, or mummy finds you, whichever of the two happens to take place first… I've gotten a bit lost – but good news, I've found a phone and patched into the speaker system and voila – now let's play hide-n-seek and you and mummy can come find me."

Inching back to look up, Ella asked in confusion, "Daddy got lost too?"

With a small sigh, Clara nodded and replied, "Looks like it."

"We should find him," the girl offered with a sad pout as she looked back at her mother.

Clara smiled and reached up to poke Ella's nose, grateful when her girl smiled back and she nodded, listening to her giggling softly as Clara pursed her lips before nodding. "We _really_ should."


	25. 14 MO - Little Bits of Frozen Time

Clara spots the Sonic lying on a dresser inside of her bedroom on the Tardis just as she puts Ella down into her crib for a nap and she smiles, reaching for it curiously. She's never really had the opportunity to examine it beyond the moments it flashes from his pocket to help them on an adventure. "_The Sonic is important Time Lord equipment, not a toy to play with_," he'd told her one day when Ella had gotten a hold of it on the console just before flipping it in the air and almost dropping it.

"Let's see how this works," Clara whispers, gripping it in her palm and turning it over slightly to look at the construction with a frown of confusion, "How do you turn it on?"

At the mere thought, she feels a hum warmly buzz her hand and she thinks maybe she understands – the Tardis has a psychic interface, the Sonic must operate on the same system. She looks to the device in her hand and she tries to think of something she could do, but when she asks it to turn on the lights, it merely sits in her hand, idle. Pursing her lips and bringing it up beside her face, she glances around the room as she crosses her left arm across her stomach and leans her other elbow into the back of her wrist.

_Lights on._

_Lights on._

"Ah," she considers, looking over the casing and finding a button, "_Moron_," she mutters to herself, pressing and thinking again _Lights On_, but nothing happens. Clara bites at her lip and looks into the crib at Ella and she sighs, "Daddy doesn't want us playing with his toys." She smiles at the thought, leaning against the edge of the crib and giving the button another light press as she sighs, "He is a silly man, _Ella_."

The Sonic clicks, extending the end – the tip lighting up a brilliant white – and Clara turns because Ella makes a noise of protest. For a moment Clara simply stares at it, wondering what she'd done – what thought in her head had triggered it – but then she frowns because she'd never seen the Sonic glow white before. Raising her eyes to look at the opposite wall, her head gives a small shake as she looks at the photo projected there of herself holding Ella on the console, the first night they'd had her. With a smile, she remembered that moment: it was when the girl had first fallen asleep in her arms.

"_Finally, what did you do – we'll need to take notes_."

"_Doctor, she just tired herself out crying_."

"_Note it down: Crying eventually ends in exhaustion_."

Clara smiles, looking at the way she was leaning into the extra control panel at the edge of the console, Ella laid out along her arm just at her chest. She'd watched her sleep, at the time terrified she'd wake up; terrified something was wrong with her, but the image captured only the adoration she felt towards the infant she held. A second photo replaces the first and this time she's laughing, her skirt floating up behind her and she knows she's just done a twirl with the girl in her arms. Ella's mouth is open in a squeal, her light eyes reduced to slits of glee.

A third images is her asleep in her bed, only a few weeks later, Ella on her side just in front of her, one hand on Clara's mouth, the other stretched out towards whoever held the camera, an excited look on her face. A fourth is her holding the girl carefully in a tub giving her a bath as she splashes the water at her sides. A fifth is the sour look on Ella's face the first time they tried to feed her pureed bananas.

They keep coming, rolling onto the wall like a scrapbook of the year she'd spent with her daughter so far and it suddenly dawned on her that it had been one year. She laughs lightly, letting her tears fall over her cheeks as she continues to look at the snapshots, understanding the Doctor had to have taken them and she's looking at a photo of herself snuggling Ella in her own living room at home, late at night when the girl had been having nightmares and she'd woken up to pace with her until she fell back to sleep, when she realizes the Doctor is watching from the doorway, a shy smile on his face.

"You've been taking photos, all along?" She asks quietly, smiling up at the baby girl standing just beside her on the console, tugging at her skirt as she made faces down at her.

The Doctor nods, lifting his Sonic out of his pocket and glancing at the one she held, "I made a duplicate, this one strictly an image recorder. A bit less conspicuous for capturing moments like this," he gestures up at Clara laughing up towards him off camera in a still image, Ella smirking shyly as she laid her head against Clara's collar, "Do you remember?"

Clara smiled, "She called you _poopie face_ because you'd fallen in the mud."

With a nod, the Doctor moves to stand beside her, looking in on Ella before he turns to watch the photos still flashing up against the wall from the projector Sonic in her hand. "I was debating when to give it to you – next Mother's day, or Christmas, as it's closer – but I suppose now that you know about it…"

She nods up at the photo of the Doctor holding Ella, obviously taking a photo of themselves, the Doctor smiling awkwardly as Ella reaches up for his chin. He smiles as the photo changes to a shot of Clara lying in her bed at home, Ella raised in the space above her, hands clasped against her neck as she smiled down at the woman smiling warmly up at her.

"You keep it," Clara tells him quietly.

"Clara…" he begins on a laugh.

Turning, she stands on tip toe and kisses him lightly before settling herself into his side, momentarily confused by the lack of light on the wall before she realizes she'd hugged him with the hand holding the secondary Sonic. He takes it from her and flashes it up on the wall again, this time a photograph of Clara in her kitchen peering to the side where Ella sits in her high chair, waiting eagerly for food.

"Clara, I took these photos for you; they're yours."

She tightens her grip and lays her head into his chest, telling him quietly, "You keep it, Doctor; when we're not around, we'll still be with you."

He smirks, teasing, "And what about me, eh? I'm not around, you can just forget me?"

Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she plucks her phone out and swipes it on and the Doctor smiles at the photo of him at the console, Ella held against his chest, both of their eyes closed. He'd been rocking her back to sleep to try and let _Clara_ sleep when the infant woke in the middle of the night and Clara had come out and caught him. She went into her images and began slowly scrolling through them.

The Doctor swinging Ella through the air.

Looking upset at Ella's spit up on his waistcoat.

Holding the girl a safe distance from a flower he was explaining.

Settled on her couch; Ella cradled in his arms.

Asleep in Ella's crib, the girl grinning up at Clara.

Pointing at the stars beyond the Tardis doors, Ella grasped tightly against him.

"You're not the only one stealing little bits of frozen time, Doctor," Clara tells him, looking up to see the way his eyes were suddenly wet with tears. Grinning, Clara inches up as he leans down to kiss her gently and when he hears the click of her phone he smiles into her lips before they dissolve into quiet laughter.


	26. 16 MO - On Parents and Intimacy (M)

The day had started simply enough. The Doctor arrived at Clara's apartment on Friday evening to find her packing the last of Ella's necessities into a suitcase, the way she did every Friday, and he smiled down at the girl who toddled towards him, arms reaching for him as she giggled and mumbled, "Daddy."

And then they went to a planet that was supposed to be filled with oversized butterflies, flowers the size of buildings, and edible clouds that he'd neglected to realize might also contain oversized bees that'd gained intelligence and would hold them all hostage in the largest honeycomb he'd ever been encased in. They'd re-entered the Tardis covered in a thick layer of half-processed honey with Ella sucking on her fingers and humming happily, seemingly unaware that they'd almost been turned into the substance for consumption by the "_Bee Bee Man_" she gleefully clapped for.

"And this," Clara had told him with a light backhand to his chest that stuck for a moment and left a trail of amber liquid between them as she moved away, "Is why you should vet a planet before taking Ella."

He nodded, dropping his head guiltily, and muttered a simple, "Yes, Clara."

Clara smiled back at him and in the apologetic look she offered he understood that she _knew_ it was impossible to tell what dangers they would find in the universe and she _knew_ he did his best to keep them safely away from those dangers. Turning back to the girl, she laughed as she watched Ella lick her honey covered lips and she called, "I'm going to take her for a shower – _you should as well_, Doctor."

"Take her for a shower?" The Doctor replied.

She shrugged back at him playfully and for a moment he was confused, taking a step towards her and then stopping because the thought suddenly struck him – was she offering to shower with him? Would she shower with him? His brow dropped as he considered it. Before Ella, he knew they'd been teasing at something between them for so long he'd begun to feel normal about gently caressing her, touching his forehead to hers, offering light kisses to the top of her head or her temple just as Clara had made a habit of pecking delightfully at the corner of his mouth.

Testing the waters, he knew now.

Waters they'd begun wading deeper and deeper into since Ella had come into their lives. Now he found himself easily coming up behind her at the crib or the console to embrace her and there was nothing awkward about the way she held his arms in place and leaned back into him comfortably. He took pleasure in her kisses, in the way she cupped his face with her hands and roamed over his lips with her own, her tongue teasing at his as he leaned down to let her. And he'd allowed himself the small explorations of the skin at her waist and the small of her back, trying to keep his fingers from trembling as they settled just underneath her skirt, not daring to travel further.

Not _quite_ yet.

He hung his head with a small laugh and made his way to a bathroom, stripping himself delicately of his clothes, each item sticking heavily to the next until he was standing naked, a quick glance back at the door wondering if he should ask her what she'd meant. Lifting his eyes to the ceiling, he shook his head – of course she meant to simply shower, it would be awkward if they both stripped down in front of Ella. Dosing himself with a blast of cold water, the Doctor lathered and rinsed until the water ran clean of the honey that suddenly felt as though it had crept into every crevice in his body.

When he stepped out, white towel wrapped at his waist, he frowned at the sound of Ella's cries, moving into the hall swiftly despite the cool temperature against his bare skin and he entered Clara's room slowly, glancing around as Ella called out to him. He looked to the girl, washed completely clean and standing in her crib in her nappy and a plain t-shirt reaching for him.

"Hey Ella, it's alright," he cooed, moving to her and lifting her up against his chest and sighing as she snuggled into him, fingernails scratching lightly at his skin. "Mummy's gone to shower, hasn't she," he whispered with a soft kiss to her forehead.

He walked slowly, pacing the room while humming a song he'd heard Clara sing a thousand times, until the little hand that searched sat still against him and he could feel her breathing slow. He leaned his cheek against her head and turned to see the woman standing in the doorway, her own towel wrapped tightly just above her breasts, watching him. Clara smiled and he returned the gesture, carrying Ella to her crib to lay her back down and when he turned, Clara stood just behind him, a curious look on her face as she stared through the bars at the sleeping girl.

The Doctor turned to her, fingers coming up to thread through her wet hair as she stepped closer, pressing her stomach into his waist as her hands touched at his chest delicately and it wasn't lost on him that two thick towels were the only things standing between them. Clara's eyes searched his and he ducked down to kiss her, his breath quickening as her fingertips slipped down to grab at the edge of his towel, holding it tightly in her grasp as he inched back.

"How long are we going to avoid this?" She asked quietly, a small smirk tugging at her lips.

In truth, there simply hadn't been time to move beyond where they'd been. The girl in the crib occupied their time when they weren't saving one another, or trying to save the universe, or when Clara was held up with class trips and grading papers and creating curriculums. Being full time workers and parents left them little time to become lovers and the Doctor could see it in the small shift of her eyes to Ella napping in her crib – there was a window of opportunity that would not last long.

He swallowed roughly and shifted back, glancing down at her hands before lifting his own to hers, covering them and pulling the folds apart, "I've not had much to compare to…" he began awkwardly.

"No," she interrupted, "It's fine, it's quite… it's…" she laughed and looked away.

The towel fluttered to the ground as she released it and the Doctor flustered, hands dropping to cover himself with a frown as she lifted her own hands to her face. "I'm sorry," he muttered and he began to bend to pick up his towel, but she reached out to stop him, shaking her head. "It's inadequate, isn't it? I know with humans, I mean, I don't know much about the _that_, but size seems to be of importance and…"

"Doctor," Clara stammered, "You're _fine_. More than… _adequately_ sized." He straightened, hands dropping away as he offered a ridiculously proud grin and Clara glanced down before looking to Ella and adding with a wince, "But we should really avoid Ella waking and seeing her father naked."

She bit her lips together and turned, feeling him inch up behind her, arms coming around her shoulders as they moved through the corridor just outside to the next room – a spare bedroom with bunk beds she couldn't understand why he kept – where she released a nervous laugh as she shifted in his arms and watched the way his eyes closed slightly as her towel grazed at him. Taking a breath, she reached up for his neck and slowly brought his lips against hers, tugging him back until her head tapped the top bunk and she smiled, lifting a hand to touch it. Clara grabbed hold of his hands, grasping them a moment as he smiled lovingly down at her, more than satisfied, she knew, with simply kissing her.

It was the reason Clara knew he loved her. Not because he had said it, but because he was always so content just knowing she was at his side and, she supposed, it was the reason she knew she loved him. The days she'd decided to spend outside of the Tardis – days designed to offer Ella as normal of a childhood as she could give her – pained her, and weekends were like going home. Not to a machine that was bigger on the inside, but to the spot at his side that she knew he reserved for her.

She brought his hands up to the edge of her towel and placed them warmly there, letting her own fall away and he smirked, bending to kiss her as his fingers delicately tugged the material away so that it fell to the ground and he was left hesitantly sliding his hands over her breasts, kneading them softly as she moaned into him. Clara reached up to take hold of the edge of the top bunk behind her as his mouth left hers and drifted over her neck and then shifted lower, stopping suddenly and she opened her eyes, watching as he hovered just in front of her, bent slightly.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Clara gasped.

"I'm a bit rusty on this," he admitted, glancing up at her with a sheepish smile, "What are the areas at play here – what sort of… what _sorts_ of… what am I allowed to, or _supposed_ to…"

Clara dropped her hands to his shoulders and breathed roughly, "Everything. _Anything_. Doctor."

He straightened and asked lightly, "Clara, are you alright?"

Eyebrows rising slightly, she looked away and muttered, "Over a thousand years old and he's _the bloody amateur in the bedroom_."

Raising a finger, he began to respond, "Clara, I'll have you know…" but Clara slid down quickly, silencing him in one quick circling of her hand around his partially erect penis, bringing it swiftly between her lips. "Ooooh," the Doctor managed, bracing his legs as he tried to remain frozen to the spot, but found his every muscle shuddering as Clara looped her tongue around him leisurely and then shifted her fingers away to engulf him fully, repeatedly and antagonizingly slow, until his forehead was pressed into the top bunk, his hands gripping to it tightly, his hips jerking into her unceremoniously. Dropping back into the bed, Clara smiled up at her handiwork and she waited, seeing him slip back slowly, eyes closed tightly, mouth slightly agape, before he blinked down at her darkly and she nodded.

"Everything," she repeated as he climbed atop her. "Anything," she whispered just before his mouth lunged over her breasts and then trailed over her stomach and then clamped down unexpectedly on her sex and she shouted out, "_Doctor_!" before slapping her hands over her mouth, afraid the girl in the next room would hear her.

But he didn't stop, reaching to place her legs over his shoulders as he gave his head a small shake, tongue lapping at her as she bucked up against the sudden onslaught of motion. Clara dug her heels into his back and she grabbed hold of the comforter on either side of her, clenching her teeth and opening her mouth to release a small restrained squeak and then the warmth of his mouth left her. His lips worked a slow trail back up over her body and when she shifted her vision, blurred with pleasure, to look at him, she could see his tongue darting out over her right nipple before he grinned down at her as he planted a hand at the sides of her head, knees pushing her legs aside.

He ducked his head lazily to kiss at her and she inhaled sharply, tasting herself on his tongue as it invaded her mouth hungrily. His lips shifted off hers as he brought himself up to sit, one hand holding himself carefully, the other landing at the crook of her right thigh, thumb stretching out to rub over her just before his eyes came up to meet hers. Clara nodded to the apprehension there and he dipped forward, bending to tuck himself into her until his palms were pressed back into the bed beside her breasts and Clara released a slight hiss.

Pulling back almost completely, he asked, "_Is it wrong_? Clara?"

"You've done nothing wrong," she laughed, lightly, throat dry, and shook her head, reaching out to caress his cheeks as she explained, "I told you – you're quite _adequate_."

"Are you saying I'm…" he began with a smile.

But Clara silenced him with a set of small kisses before he settled into her again, this time savoring the breath she released, knowing it wasn't pain, but pleasure and for a moment he simply enjoyed the feel of her body wrapped entirely around him. He felt an odd tingle in his gut as he lay there, still, inside of her, his lips working at hers, tongue darting just past to tease her and when he inched back to look down at her, he felt his hearts skip a beat at the sight of her smiling back up at him.

He loved her; he'd loved her for so long and now he could share that with her in a way he seldom even thought about, not just loving her by holding her hand or kissing her, but making love to her – being one with her. He sighed, overwhelmed for a moment knowing she wanted the same and knowing, by her earlier words, she'd wanted it for some time. Looking over her pale skin in the dim light of the room, he watched as she turned her head to kiss his arm as he dropped his lips to her neck, nipping at her and working his way over her jaw. Her cool feet slid up over his thighs and her knees tightened their grip at his waist and she tilted her head to kiss him deeply as he began to move smoothly into her.

The Doctor smiled, feeling his stomach churning with a fire he hadn't felt in ages and he shifted his lips to her jaw and then along to her neck where he knew he'd sucked just a bit too hard, her warm gasps into his ear working to speed his motions. He dropped his mouth onto her shoulder, licking at her salty skin as her body began to curl up into him and he could feel her forehead press into his other shoulder, could feel her breaths travel down his chest, igniting new flames.

With a strained groan, he came all too soon, pumping against her rapidly, and he could feel Clara's hands clutching his back as her heels pushed at his backside. He slowed and she called out a low and desperate, "_No_," that sent him into a fervor of motion against her and her nails curled into his flesh as she exhaled roughly, head falling back as she took several long breaths, tugging him onto her and, he knew, deeper into her. He watched her eyes pinching shut as her muscles shuddered around him while he continued to slowly curl into her, drawing out the sensation just a little longer for her.

"I wasn't avoiding this, Clara," he assured her quietly from where he lay beside her when she finally relaxed and simply stared up at him with a quiet admiration, "I wanted it to be _just right_, for the both of us."

She smiled into the kiss he offered, light and warm, and she shifted onto her side as his hand stroked over her hip, resting against her so that his fingers curled around the spot where her backside met her legs and she lifted it, draping it over his. Clara inched her body forward until they met again and she pushed up onto her elbow, her hip working at his until he turned onto his back and she mounted him with a laugh he shared, palms smoothing over his chest as she kissed him again.

Her wetness rubbed at him where he lay against his abdomen and he grinned before they broke apart to chuckle as she shifted back and reached for him, stroking at him delicately before lifting herself up slip him back inside of her, settling herself atop him and rocking her hips gently, working to stiffen his member as she fanned her fingers out over his stomach.

"Doctor," she called curiously, smiling when his hands found her hips and began to control her motions as he calmly smiled back at her, "What are the odds…" she began, but she was interrupted by a small whine from the other room that slowly became a set of whimpers and finally a steady cry.

"I take it moments like this are going to be few and far between," the Doctor teased.

Clara dropped herself down onto his chest, forehead directly under his chin and she laughed, listening to him chuckling before she leaned up and kissed him lightly. "The joys of parenting," she replied with a smirk.

He shrugged and brushed a hand through her hair, listening to Ella calling out to each of them in turn before he told her softly, "Truly _are_ a joy."

Clara lifted up and looked down at him before she offered him another long kiss that ended with a sigh of appreciation. Then she reluctantly rolled off him, plucking her towel off the floor to wrap around her body before she stepped out of the room, calling, "It's ok, baby, mummy's coming."


	27. 34 Mo - The Monster and his Angel

He could hear Ella through the monitor in Clara's living room, singing a song to herself as he tinkered with his Sonic screwdriver on the coffee table, legs folded underneath him, and he checked his watch with a frown. It was nearing one in the morning on a Tuesday and the girl hadn't fully gone to sleep and he knew the woman in the other room wasn't aware because she was out cold. He sighed and the singing stopped and when he turned, the girl was standing beside him with a tired look on her small face just before she smiled.

"What you doing, daddy?" She asked with a bop of her head as she pointed at the device laid out in pieces in front of him.

"Fixing my Sonic," he explained, "What are you doing, Ella?"

She shrugged and then she told him quickly, "I'm not tired," but just as she said it, she yawned and then rubbed at her face and he laughed quietly, settling his tools down to stand and lift her up into his arms.

"Maybe," he offered with a poke to her stomach as he moved towards her room, "Maybe I could tell you a story while we lay down to rest," he shook his head with a frown, "We don't want to go to sleep."

Ella shook her head with a smirk.

He stepped into the room, clicking on a small lamp before laying her gently in her toddler bed, settling himself down onto the ground beside her to pick up one of her stuffed animals, "Now you close your eyes so you can imagine the story, ok?" He waited, watching her nod and twist onto her side to face him, eyes closing slowly before one opened again at him as she grinned. "No peeking," he chastised with a laugh.

She giggled softly and repeated, "No peeking," before closing her eyes and pulling one of her dolls into her grasp.

With a long sigh, the Doctor watched her a moment, her hair had darkened since they'd found her, but he could still see the reddish tone to the brown locks in the dim lamp light, and her cheeks had thinned out, but they still sat plump at either side of the thin-lipped grin she wore. He leaned in towards her, looking down at the small slender fingers that gripped her doll and with a sigh, he began, "Once upon a time there was a lonely monster."

The girl gave a small gasp and she choked the neck of her doll. "No monsters," she whispered.

He laughed, "No, this isn't a bad monster, Ella. This is a very old monster who makes it a bit of a hobby to help the people he finds."

"Good monster?" She asked, eyes opening momentarily to wait for his answer.

Nodding with a kind smile, he continued, "The lonely monster found a woman inside of a robot who needed his help to escape."

Ella murmured, "She was t'apped?"

"Yes, Ella, she'd been trapped by bad robots who made her a robot to keep her for themselves." He smiled as she rubbed at her tiny nose and yawned again, "And those bad robots wanted to make everyone robots."

"All the people?" She questioned.

"Yes, all the people – even us," Ella gasped, "So the woman and the lonely monster stopped the bad robots, but the woman died to help the lonely monster and all of the people."

The girl before him frowned and hugged her doll, exclaiming sadly, "Oh no."

"The lonely monster was sad, so he spent a long time by himself, but then one day something amazing happened," the Doctor watched Ella's eyebrows rise with anticipation and he smiled before telling her, "This lonely monster fell in love with a woman who came from the clouds – a woman who needed his help."

"An angel?" Ella prompted.

"Sort of like an angel, yes," the Doctor told her. "The angel was fighting a bad man who made scary snowmen who were going to eat everything on Earth."

"People?" Ella squeaked.

He poked her nose, "Close your eyes," she did, "Yes, even people," she gasped, "And so the lonely monster decided to help the angel and they stopped the bad man, but the angel went back to the clouds."

Ella's eyes opened again and her face scrunched together as she asked, "Was the angel the robot lady?"

With a large grin, the Doctor nodded and said, "Yes, she was."

"She came back!" Ella cried quietly.

He bent to pull the sheets over her legs and he whispered, "Close your eyes." She watched him curiously before blinking several times and then shutting her eyes, fighting another yawn. "The angel disappeared and the lonely monster decided to go look for her because he loved her so much and do you know what happened, Ella?" He waited, watching as she nodded, eyes remaining shut. "The lonely monster spent a very very _very_ long time looking for her. He went to cave to hide by himself to think about where she was and one day, she called him because she needed his help again."

"Uh-huh," she managed.

Tucking the sheets into her chin, the Doctor continued, "And the lonely monster went swiftly to help her and together they saved the world and all of the people. They decided to never get lost again," he took one of her small hands in his, feeling the gentle squeeze she gave it, automatic in her half asleep daze, "They held hands – they're still holding hands, Ella. And they had a baby girl who they loved so very much," Ella smiled and the Doctor knew that somewhere in that small mind she understood, "And do you know what, Ella?"

He sighed, watching her take a long breath as she held his hand.

"The lonely monster didn't feel very much like a monster anymore," he explained with a smile as he touched her cheek, "And he was no longer lonely."


	28. 13 MO - Classroom Interruption

"Soofay."

The Doctor stopped as he walked through the corridor and he looked down at the little girl in his arms, watching her clap her hands together as she grinned happily up at him. He glanced back towards an open door before shifting towards it slowly, peering inside to see one of the quainter kitchens the Tardis held with a tilt back of his head as Ella clapped again.

"Soofay, daddy!" Ella shouted, pointing just beside his cheek.

"Oh," he exclaimed, "_Oh_, you want to make a soufflé?"

She nodded enthusiastically and then asked, "Soofay mummy?"

With a laugh, he gestured into the kitchen and then went into it, rounding the counter at the center and looking over the bowls and mixers and then he looked back at Ella, "You're saying Soufflé!"

"Soofay!" She shouted back with another small clap. "Mummy soofay!"

"_You're saying soufflé_!" He repeated in surprise before charging out of the room with her squealing with delight in his arms.

Clara had asked them to turn to the third chapter in their book, and she listened to the groans before offering, "We could, perhaps, have a quiz on the second?"

There was a general mumble, "No," and when she dropped her head forward and raised an eyebrow, they began to sift through their novels, each settling on the page with similar sighs, but before she could say another word, the door to her classroom burst open and the Doctor rushed inside, gleeful look on his face. The class erupted in giggles as Ella waved and then reached for Clara when the man holding her stood next to the woman.

"Mummy!" The little girl shouted, and the classroom began to murmur as Clara took the girl from the Doctor and balanced her on her waist. "Hi, mummy," Ella laughed.

"Hello, baby girl," Clara whispered back, kissing her lightly on the nose and turning to the class with a sigh as she took in all of their amused faces before looking back to the Doctor, "I'm in the middle of class."

The Doctor laughed nervously, hands wrapping in front of him as he looked to the class and then back at the frustrated look hidden just behind the calm smile. His voice broke as he quietly prompted, "Ella, tell mummy what you said, just now, at home."

"Doctor?" Clara questioned, but he pointed as Ella played with Clara's necklace.

The class chuckled and Ella looked up over them, blowing a raspberry and shaking her head as the Doctor leaned forward and whispered, "Ella, what did you want to make with mummy, in the kitchen?"

She giggled and tucked her head under Clara's neck as her students laughed. "No," the girl spat.

Clara managed a smile, looking between the man in front of her and the girl she held.

"_Ms. Oswald – is this your husband_?" Someone asked.

Her brow came together as her head tilted up at the Doctor and he could see what she was thinking and he straightened nervously, hand coming up to scratch at the back of his neck: Now she'd be the gossip of the entire school, unmarried with a young child to a man who'd burst into her classroom uninvited. Possibly, Clara could end up reprimanded and it would be his fault because he couldn't wait a few more hours for her to arrive back at the Tardis to pick Ella up.

"Ella," the Doctor prompted, reaching forward to take her hand, giving it a small swing, "Mummy is very cross with me as I've disrupted her job, so please tell her you want to make a soufflé."

The girl brightened and shrieked, "Soofay! Soofay mummy!" The class erupted in laughter and Ella shushed them, shaking her head again and saying, "Not nice!"

Clara frowned at the students, watching them quiet as she allowed, "This is my daughter, Ella, and this is her father, and I am very sorry." Pointing at the Doctor, she gestured to the door and she turned back to the children passing awkward glances at one another, "Chapter three, read silently, I'll be right back in."

Moving behind the Doctor, she pushed out towards the hallway and when she closed the door behind her, she swung Ella up and brought her down to nuzzle her nose and exclaim, "Tonight, we're going to make a very special soufflé – just you and me, Ella."

Ella pressed her palms into Clara's cheeks and she grinned happily, murmuring, "Mummy make a soofay."

In front of her, the Doctor shifted anxiously from one foot to the other, hands wrapping once before he pointed and admitted, "That was possibly not the best way to let you know, but you and your soufflés, passing along your mother's recipe – I know what that means to you and I thought you would be glad she's picked up the…"

"Doctor," Clara interrupted, taking a step towards him with a smirk settled on her face as she shifted Ella back to her hip and watched his brow knotting together.

"I'm sorry, Clara," he swiped a hand with a long blink of his eyes, "No more school interruptions. Won't happen again; won't…"

"Doctor," Clara barked before laughing.

"Yes, Clara?" He squeaked.

She inched up to offer a peck of her lips to his cheek and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're not upset?" He questioned.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she shrugged, "A bit, but it's worth it," she glanced at Ella, who'd gone back to plucking at the necklace she wore to examine the charm at the end. "Now go home, tidy up, I'll be done soon." She lifted Ella to the Doctor's arms after a set of kisses to the girl's chubby cheeks that elicited a round of giggles from her daughter.

Clara crossed her arms at her chest and smiled as they departed, the Doctor encouraging Ella to wave as they moved down the hall, Ella shouting, "Bye bye, mummy!" just as they reached the back door. She chuckled, turning on the spot, and seeing several students rush away from the door as she shook her head and sighed. They'd definitely be talking, she knew, pushing back through the door to call, "Have _any of you_ read a single word yet?" And she smiled as they laughed.


	29. 07 MO - Falls and Firsts

The Doctor was standing on the console, one hand holding tight to the time rotor while the other gripped his Sonic and he shifted his head, aiming the flashlight in his mouth up at a spot Clara was making faces at while she held tight to his knees. She passed a glance down at the girl in her pack-n-play who suddenly released a chuckle at them as she gnawed on a teething ring and Clara smiled when Ella pointed. And then the Sonic came to life and the Tardis groaned in anger.

Plucking the flashlight from his mouth, the Doctor called down to Clara, "Plumbing issues; like working out a rotted tooth."

She grimaced, turning her attention back to the man above her and offered with a tilt of her head, "Does that make you a dentist now, or a plumber?"

The Doctor peered down at her and made a noise of frustration before shaking his head, "Can't a metaphor just end at the metaphor?"

With a smile, she teased, "Always follow the metaphor through."

The time rotor's movement quickened and the Tardis released another rumble that made Ella's smile fade as her eyes went wide and she glanced around as she mumbled 'uh-oh'. The Doctor lodged the flashlight between his lips again and gave the spot another burst of Sonic energy and they lurched slightly, Clara's hands tightening her grip on his legs as he clutched the center tubing.

"This isn't working!" Clara shouted, looking to Ella as she rolled onto her side and pulled a blanket over her head.

"_Oh, I know_!" The Doctor barked, flashlight clattering onto the controls in front of Clara and she gasped because it had bopped several buttons and was now rolling over the edge and onto the floor as the room vibrated to life. "NO!"

Clara gave a small shout of surprise because the Doctor was slipping down, feet losing their places as the ship lurched to the side and she released him momentarily, turning to see Ella's pack-n-play sliding towards metal railing where it bumped and the girl gasped.

"Ella!" She shouted.

"Clara!" The Doctor shrieked.

She turned in time to reach out her hands to slow his fall, but he took her to the ground with him as the Tardis evened herself out in space and gave one final angry groan. Clara grunted, eyes closed and ready for the brunt of his weight to collapse on her, but instead she heard him give a howl of pain just after his knees crashed roughly into the metal on either side of her right leg. He rolled onto his side, grimacing and huffing his discomfort as Clara opened her eyes and then picked herself up, going quickly to Ella to lift her out of the pack-n-play to hold.

"Oh, baby, _are you alright_?" Clara pleaded, hand quickly checking over the small body giggling in her arms.

The Doctor gaped and shouted, "_Is she alright_? I just fell off the console, avoided crushing you, probably broke my kneecaps, and you're asking her if _she's_ alright? She's _perfectly fine_, Clara."

Ella frowned.

Flipping onto his back, knees tucked up into his stomach, the Doctor rubbed vigorously at them as Clara approached him with a gentle, "I'm so sorry, Doctor, are you alright?"

"Dadda," Ella called before pouting her lips.

Turning slowly, Clara looked to the girl she held as she pointed down at the man who had stopped grunting in pain and was now staring up at the duo above him in shock. "What?" He said slowly.

Ella glanced at Clara and then shrieked angrily, "Dadda!"

With a small swallow and a rise of her eyebrows, Clara offered as Ella continued to gesture, "I believe she's concerned about… _her father_."

Bending slowly, Clara knelt next to him and the Doctor pulled himself to sit up, reaching out as Ella's bottom lip trembled and her eyes threatened them both with tears. Once he held her, she tilted into him, head landing at his right collar bone as her small arms lifted to hold him and Clara watched the small hands that patted each of his shoulders, fingernails scratching lightly when she finally settled them against him with a sigh of contentment.

"I'm alright, Ella," he told her softly and slowly, staring down at her as she continued to tighten her grip on his shirt before he looking to Clara to say, "Dadda's alright."

She dropped back slightly, watching as the Doctor kissed the top of Ella's head and soothed her with a small rub of her back and she laughed, uttering, "Her first word."

Clara reached up to swipe at her tears with her knuckles and the Doctor knew it wasn't that she'd wanted the girl to say her name or to call her mum, it was that the girl was calling a man who was not her father 'dadda' because they hadn't succeeded in finding that man. And she realized just how long they'd had her; just how much they loved her. Just how much the little girl loved them back.

"Clara," he sighed.

"No," she shook her head, "It's fine, it's good. She was worried about you; she loves you."

Ella shifted back and gave the Doctor's chin a slobbery kiss, waiting for him to smile at her to grin back, satisfied that the man truly was alright before she twisted in his arms and giggled at Clara. "I'm sorry."

Clara nodded, understanding he wasn't apologizing for the words, knowing she'd been adamant he not continue to call them Ella's mum and dad – but that he knew she was upset they hadn't been able to find the girl's real parents and the word had been a reminder of that.

"Well," she laughed quietly, "Have you fixed the rotted tooth?"

The Doctor turned Ella so she sat in his lap clapping her hands at Clara and he replied quickly, "Yes, right, absolutely, should be good to use the toilets and such straight away."

They watched one another a moment before Clara finally nodded, face shifting as she turned to the little girl popping her lips up at her, "Then it's time for a bath."

Reaching for Ella, Clara picked her up as she stood with a wide smile the girl responded to by grabbing hold of Clara's hair to wave it about before she landed her lips heavily against Clara's cheek, mumbling against it. "She's telling you a secret," the Doctor spoke with a light wave of his finger as he looked away. "She's telling you not to be sad because she loves you very much," he paused as Clara nodded before adding, "And she's glad dadda didn't squish her mummy."

"_Doctor_," Clara warned.

He raised his hands and then dropped them in his lap, frowning and rubbing his fingers over his knees before glancing up at the sad grin she was giving the baby girl now resting her forehead to her jaw. "I'll find us some place to have dinner."

Nodding, Clara began to walk, but turned, "Are you sure you're alright?"

He picked himself up with a grunt and nodded, then asked, "Are you?"

Clara smiled because he wasn't asking about the fall, but about the little girl calling him by a title she felt neither of them deserved to have. And she knew the same small mouth that had uttered it would soon be calling her by the matching title and Clara wasn't sure whether she was alright, so she simply sighed as Ella nuzzled into her and then she smiled and gestured up at the Tardis, "Go find us food," and she swung back around to start walking through to the first corridor and the Doctor limped back to the console, hands landing softly against the edges as he heard the baby squeal, "_Mumma_!" and he closed his eyes, bowing his head, and went to work at the controls.


	30. 08 MO - Baby Bullet

It was irrational, but Clara felt like a horrible parent. She should have had Ella eating blended foods already, but had lost track of time and she worried – even though she checked and double checked the labels on the cereals and the formulas – the girl wasn't getting the nutrients she was supposed to. Of course, all of the Doctor's scans on the child had come back absolutely normal. Her health was perfect; her responses were perfect; her size and weight were perfect.

The perfect little girl who was watching her from where she sat in a high chair in one of the Tardis kitchens as Clara began to assemble the odd contraption she'd purchased weeks before. Plugging it into the wall, Clara turned it on and laughed when Ella jumped at the noise. The girl pointed and mumbled and she smiled because she imagined she was asking what it was and what it did and how it worked – the Doctor was always going on about how curious she was about everything.

She'd asked him once if he had two hearts because he had her and Clara, and the Doctor had laughed before turning away from Clara to whisper an answer to the inquisitive child. Picking up the steamed diced sweet potatoes she'd prepared, Clara began to scoop them into the small blender with the happy little face on the side as she smiled over at Ella, who clapped cheerfully.

"We're going to try something new, sweet pea," she told her.

"Mumma," the girl responded, lips pressing together into a tight smile before she began to lightly slap her hands against the tray over her lap. "Mmmmmm," she continued.

Clara sighed and pushed the lid down, watching the contents whiz around quickly for a moment and then she carefully filled several smaller smiley-faced containers, taking one towards Ella to ask, "Is Ella ready for the yummy food Auntie Clara's made?"

Ella shifted back in the chair and stared up at her with her small nose flared and her lips clenched together, hands now grasping at one another on her stomach before they tugged at the bib she wore. "Dadda," she spat.

"Dadda's not… _the Doctor's_ not getting you out of this," Clara asserted, "And I know about your little nighttime walks when you're supposed to be sleeping," she finished on a whisper, watching the girl smile shyly as Clara worked a small amount of orange mush onto a red rubber tipped spoon.

The door to the kitchen slid open and the Doctor glanced in, his perplexed face shifting into one of delight and he moved inside. Clara watched him stride over and she knew he'd been all over the Tardis looking for them and, of course, he probably hadn't thought to check the kitchen. _That would be too normal_.

"What are my girls doing today?" He asked, brightening when Ella turned sharply at the sound of his voice and called out to him several times, pointing at him and then chuckling.

Clara shook her head at the pair and she bent slightly, giving Ella's lips a small tap with the edge of the spoon so the girl turned to see what she was doing and she promptly pushed it into her mouth, withdrawing it and taking a small step back to watch Ella's mouth work over the new contents. She puckered slightly and her brow knotted before she blew a raspberry that shot sweet potato out over the tray and Clara's blouse.

"I don't think she likes it," the Doctor surmised.

Sighing, Clara corrected, "She doesn't know if she likes it."

He pointed, "If she liked it you wouldn't be wearing it."

Tilting her head up at him, Clara shot, "It's a new flavor; a new consistency, she was bound to spit it out."

"Not really my reaction to a new flavor or consistency," he told her as he moved around the high chair to smirk at her while she dabbed at the bits with a wet towel from the counter.

Clara took a breath and straightened, "Are you serious? I've watched you drool an entire mouthful of wine right back into the cup."

"It was _sour_."

"It was _Merlot_."

The Doctor looked away as Ella giggled and Clara took the opportunity to push another small bit past her lips to step back and wait, watching her face contort again, but this time she held it in and mulled it about, looking up at Clara as she nodded. Ella pushed it around with her mouth and Clara watched her swallow with a small shake of her head before she reached out for her, giving her a tiny moan and Clara chanced to give her another spoonful, delicately brushing her outstretched hand away.

Her mouth came open and she clamped it on the spoon and Clara slipped it back, glad that Ella kept the contents and was now working it over with her gums as she looked around in confusion. A small bit dribbled back out and Clara swept it up with a quick swing of the spoon under the girl's bottom lip and she smiled, ready to turn and ask for apologies from the Doctor, but she laughed. He was standing at the counter with a spoon of his own, tasting the contents of a second small bullet cup and his head was giving a slight bob from side to side as he considered the flavor.

"See," Clara told him, "It's good."

"Lot better than your soufflés," he teased.

She feigned laughter and turned back when Ella called out to her, ready with another spoonful for the now waiting child, and it wasn't lost on the Doctor that she'd responded to 'Mumma' without hesitation. And then he hopped away from the counter towards Clara to stop her with a grin. "What?" She deadpanned.

"All of the universe, open to her taste buds with that contraption, wouldn't you say?" He bent to tell her, mischievous look on her face.

Clara turned and began, "We really should introduce her to foods slowly…"

But an hour later they were sitting with tubs, Tupper wares, and plates full of mashed fruits and veggies from a marketplace that traded with three solar systems' worth of planets. Clara dipped a spoon into a purple sludge and tasted it, shrugging and offering it to Ella, who promptly made a sour face and drooled it back out. The Doctor was keeping a list and he scribbled down as he uttered, "Poisfernus fruit from Bisfitus is a no go."

"Most of this is pretty horrendous," Clara agreed, wiping at the sludge on Ella's chin as the girl smiled and pointed and she turned to grab at a tub of green goop she looked at apprehensively. "Are you sure this one's edible, Doctor."

"Of course it's edible, Clara," he argued, "_Everything's_ edible with a little sugar."

She set the tub back down and shook her head to tell Ella quietly, "That one's probably not safe."

Ella laughed and then squealed, bouncing in her chair and pointing and Clara rummaged through the items on the counter, pushing aside ones she hadn't liked and she found herself holding the small tub of sweet potatoes and she turned to see the baby girl clapping.

The Doctor frowned and scoffed, "But that's regular old sweet potatoes!"

"Maybe she's a regular old girl," Clara affirmed, picking up a spoon and dabbing a bit on. "Besides, I think we've all eaten a bit too much of this tonight. One last bite of something familiar before bed and you," she pointed the spoon back at the Doctor after Ella had taken its contents, "You're on nappy duty for the next two days because I'm not responsible for what comes out after all of this," she waved a hand over the tubs.

"I suppose that's fair," he offered with a frown. Then he shrugged, grin returning to his ridiculous face as he moved around Clara to pluck Ella from the chair and give her a twirl in the air.

"Doctor," Clara began, "That's not really a good…"

Ella spit up into his face and he froze, eyes and mouth clamped shut against the mud colored goop now dripping down his chin as the girl he held muttered, "Uh-oh, dadda."

Releasing a laugh, Clara grabbed for the towel and moved towards him, stepping underneath his arms so that Ella's knees bumped the back of her head lightly, and she swiped away the spit up before settling the towel on his shoulder and turning to take Ella from him. "Never a good idea to shake a recently fed baby," she called as she walked out, telling the girl, "Time for a bath now, then it's off to bed."

"A little warning," the Doctor shouted after her, "_Would have been nice_." He opened his eyes and grimaced, picking the towel off his shoulder and folding it to wipe at his face again and he could hear the girls in the corridor squealing with laughter.


	31. 02 YR - Christmas Morning

The Doctor sighed as he watched the clock on Clara's nightstand blink to six thirty in the morning and then he grinned as he ran his hand along her arm underneath the thick sheets, turning his attention to the light drizzle of snowflakes now falling against the dark skies outside. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss into the shoulder of her flannel pajamas and waited with a mischievous grin. After a moment, Clara shifted and he watched her take a long breath before he wrapped his arm around her midsection and pulled her back into him, nuzzling her neck until he heard her moan a sleepy laugh.

"It's Christmas," he whispered.

"_It's Christmas_," she repeated, turning in his arms to smile up at him, eyes half closed as she moved forward and snuggled against him, hands roaming underneath his night shirt and balling at his chest as he laid his chin atop her head and rubbed at her back. "Do you think she's awake?"

He laughed, "Why don't we find out?"

"Because it's cold," Clara moped.

"You're like a sauna," he cried softly.

Clara shook her head and pushed one of her legs between his and he jerked slightly as she chuckled and teased, "You got that present last night."

"I thought that might be the gift that keeps on giving," he replied coyly.

She groaned and slipped away from him, throwing the sheets back and standing to turn and laugh at him as he grabbed hold of the comforter and tugged it back up to his chin as she gestured, "I told you it's cold."

"Could we maybe have the tree relocated to your bed?" He asked brightly.

Brow wrinkling, Clara prompted, "And have pine needles nicking me through the night? Not a chance. Enough of a hassle wrestling with those limbs." She chuckled when he scoffed in frustration and then Clara padded out of the room and across the hall where she found Ella curled up underneath the sheets in her crib and she reached in, lifting her up and into her arms to whisper, "Good morning, baby girl."

Ella mumbled and yawned and laid warmly against her, hands tucked at her chin as she remained sleeping and when Clara looked up, the Doctor was standing in the doorway watching them. "Second Christmas," he sighed as Clara swayed gently on the spot, hand rubbing at the girl's back as she smiled up at the man who approached them and wrapped his arms around them to hold.

"She'll be three in April," Clara breathed, peering down past the disheveled auburn hair to the round nose and puckered lips and she sighed, "Time really does fly, doesn't it."

The Doctor shifted back and gave Ella a gaping smile as she opened her eyes, one that made the little girl smirk before she lifted her head to look at Clara and say, "Morning Mummy," in a light tired voice. "Is Christmas?"

Clara nodded and tried her best to smooth out the hair that waved out randomly from the child's head as she replied, "Yeah, Ella, it's Christmas."

She gave a bounce and clapped her hands and Clara laughed with the Doctor as he lead them back out towards the hall and into the living room where the Doctor had already lit the tree, glowing in the dim morning light. Ella gasped, her green eyes going wide as she took in the small pile of presents that hadn't been there the night before and Clara feigned surprise as she settled the girl on the floor and then leaned back into the Doctor to watch her hop over to them to examine, a small intake of breath each time she found her name written neatly atop a present.

"Mummy, Santa brought me presents!"

"How many are there?" Clara asked as the Doctor hugged an arm around her chest to hold her closer.

The girl pointed at several and nodded, "A lot, a lot."

"Maybe," the Doctor supplied, "You were a very good girl this year."

Ella's head tilted back and she nodded vigorously as they laughed, then she asked on a whisper, "Can I open them?"

"Of course you can open them," Clara chuckled, reaching up to tug at the Doctor's arm, slipping away from him to settle herself on the ground as Ella began to find just the right present to start with. She felt the Doctor's lanky frame drop down behind her and his legs stretched out around her and tucked themselves underneath her knees. He laughed lightly in her ear as Ella tore the packaging off a doll and shouted with excitement and she knew he was thinking about the year before.

Their first Christmas they'd been aboard the Tardis and the day had almost been forgotten, a small exchange of words and hugs between the Doctor and Clara with the eight month old between them; but the year before they'd planned a Christmas with a tree and presents and the little girl would shout "Happy Kissmas" to anyone within earshot. But the morning of, she'd stared in confusion at each box, scratching at the edges and watching them both trying to encourage an enthusiasm that never quite bubbled to the surface as she was too confused about the two of them acting strangely – or at least strangely to her. But not this year; this year Ella had enough understanding to expect gifts knowing they were rewards for her behavior and neither could complain about her behavior.

For everything she had to go through: sharing her time between the Tardis and their flat in Lancashire, going days without seeing her father sometimes, listening to their instructions on Earth and on planets far off in the distance or in time – Ella was generally an attentive and disciplined child. And they both knew that for someone as young as her, it was a godsend they hadn't had to fish her out of the gut of a whale yet… and they both knew how possible that was in their hectic lives.

And with how inquisitive their child was.

They both knew that she wasn't theirs, but she was _absolutely_ _theirs_.

"Mummy, princess!" Ella squealed, holding the blue box and turning it with a shocked look on her face before bringing her the package to begin a new pile at Clara's side. "Daddy, look!" She raised a box she recognized from commercials during her cartoons and asked, "Is _really_ moon sand?"

The Doctor nodded as he wrapped his arms around Clara and rested his chin on her shoulder, "I believe it is sand from the moon. We must be _very_ careful with that."

Ella's smile faded and her eyes widened slightly as she nodded and repeated, "Very careful," before settling it down at Clara's feet and going back to the pile. She shouted about a plush horse and jumped around for a jewelry box the Doctor had picked up on their travels and sighed as she hugged a dress to her chest she'd admired in a store hundreds of years in the past.

After an hour, she was lazily lying within the scraps of wrapping paper, giggling as she tossed it up and watched it float back down and the Doctor kissed Clara's cheek lightly, and called to the girl submerged in front of them, "Ella, did you have a good Christmas morning?"

There was a rustling as she rolled and finally emerged out to giggle up at them before standing and walking towards them, landing with a grunt in Clara's lap with a doll tucked under her arm and a sleepy grin on her face as she nodded, "Yes, thank you."

"We've got one more for you," Clara revealed, watching the tiny face in front of her light up as the Doctor stood and moved to tug a longer box out from behind the tree, "This is from us, from mum and dad."

Ella stood tentatively and looked the box over before delicately tearing away the wrapping to stand back and turn, asking in a hushed voice, "I'm a big girl?"

Clara moved on her knees towards the child running a finger over the image of the toddler bed on the box and she hugged her from behind, kissing her and telling her firmly, "You are a big girl, a very big girl mummy and daddy love very much."

With a shy smile, Ella asked her, "Can I sleep in it now?"

"_Well_, daddy had to put it together," the Doctor offered, scratching at the back of his head nervously before he watched Clara nod – an assurance that she'd be right at his side with instructions. Because if the contraption was going to hold their sleeping daughter, he was going to have a look at the instructions.

Ella turned in Clara's arms and frowned, "I don't have presents for you."

With a soft laugh, Clara held her daughter's face before telling her earnestly, "_You_ are my present, Ella. _The very best present_ because every morning is a new unwrapping, a new surprise, and nothing in the universe could be better."

The girl shifted to wrap her whole self around Clara as she slid her arms around the girl to hold her securely to her body and she smiled up at the Doctor who was grinning back down at her, Sonic suddenly held firmly in his hand. He pocketed the object and shouted, "Well you're _my_ present _too_!"

Giggling, Ella unlatched from Clara and raced into the Doctor's waiting hands so he could swing her up into the air in a circle so she screamed happily before he brought her back down against his chest to hug her as she gripped him tightly. He heard a soft click and glanced down to see Clara had snatched her phone off the coffee table for a photo and he smiled as she stood and set the phone back.

"Happy Christmas, Clara," he told her as she moved to hug them both, nestling into his side and inching down to kiss her.

"Ew," Ella whined before laughing.

"Oh, she doesn't like kissing," Clara teased, glancing at the Doctor and he bent slightly so they could both smother the girl in loud smooches as she giggled and writhed and finally sat panting in the Doctor's arms when they shifted back to laugh at her.

The Doctor set Ella down on the ground and told her quietly, "Time to get all of your new things into your room while your mum and I look at this new bed."

"New bed!" Ella squeaked as she hopped and then rushed to pluck another doll and the horse up to stumble towards the bedrooms as the Doctor looked down at Clara, now pressing herself flat against his stomach, feet between his, arms rounding his midsection.

He smiled as he hugged her back and then dropped to kiss her again and she sighed into it, breaking away to tell him happily, "Merry Christmas, Doctor."


	32. 04 MO - Leaks and Floaters

The Doctor stood in shock in the middle of a corridor with a moping infant wriggling in his hands, onesie covered in a slick of white spit up. She stared up angrily at him and coughed up another mouthful that dribbled over her chin and slid down her neck and underneath her clothes and then her face contorted; threatening the screams he knew would surely rouse Clara out of her sleep to ask him what had happened.

"How would I explain to _mummy_ I _might_ have overfed you and then, _maybe_ forgot to burp you and then, _possibly_ decided to rush up and down a corridor to stop your whining?" He shook his head at her before whispering in his best impersonation of Clara, "_You don't shake the baby after you've fed her_." The Doctor sighed, "Why's she always right?"

Ella smirked.

"Oh," he spat, "That's funny?"

She shifted in his hands in response and he lifted her slightly, looking each way up and down the corridor before settling on continuing forward to the closer bathroom, stepping inside and tugging a towel free from a pile of them to awkwardly drop it into the tub before reaching for another. And then he realized he'd set the baby against his chest, soaking his waistcoat in baby puke.

"Maybe I _should_ wake her," he offered as he held the child securely to him despite the warmth slowly leaking through his clothes. "Clara could bathe you; I could bathe myself – it's a win-win, isn't it Ella?"

He opened the water and looked down at the baby girl now chewing on her fingers and he glanced at his waistcoat with a frown before he shrugged and carefully laid her down on a sky colored rug to strip her of the dirty onesie. Then he stood and sighed, removing the waistcoat and shirt while he kicked off his shoes. Ella watched him a moment before rolling onto her stomach and staring at the edge of the tub as the Doctor dropped his trousers, and plucked off his socks, lifting Ella carefully to his chest again.

"Clara's asleep and we both need a bit of a rinse and you're young enough that this isn't yet inappropriate," he told her before considering, "At least I think it's not reached that point and I've still got my pants on." He leaned to whisper, "_Just don't tell Clara_."

The baby murmured, "_You're silly_," as he stepped into the tub and set the plug in the drain, glancing up the selection of bottles before moving one down to a lower shelf so he could sit and hold the baby in the rising waters, watching her intake of breath as her bottom hit the warm liquid. Her small smile came instantly after and the Doctor grinned back.

"You know," he told her softly, "It's been quite some time since I've bathed an infant." Ella squished her lips together at him, "Let me know if I'm doing anything wrong."

"_Alright so far_," she babbled at him, "_I like the water_. _She uses the sink_."

He lifted the towel floating in the water and poured soap onto it, gently wiping at her chest and neck and then carefully underneath her arms. Confident, he raised her against his chest and rubbed over her back and bum and he frowned when he felt something warm beginning to roll over his chest onto his stomach and when he shifted her back he gave a shout of surprise at the urine now dribbling down her legs and dripping into the water.

"No," he moaned. He adjusted her in one arm and reached behind himself to pull the plug, watching her smile grow as the water drained out and he turned to face the spout, grumbling as he rinsed the towel and then dropped more soap onto it to rewash Ella as she swung her arms around. "There," he sighed.

"_Can you bring the water back_?" She questioned quietly.

"If you control your bladder," he shot.

She smirked.

The Doctor dropped the plug back into the drain and he settled her bum against his thigh until he could hold her in one hand and let her float, eyes closed with a content smile on her small face. "Only for a few minutes, mummy wouldn't approve," he whispered.

"I'm not _mummy_," Clara told him firmly from a space behind him and he jumped, shocking Ella's eyes open as she turned in the direction of Clara's voice. "I really hope you're not naked under that water."

He flustered, turning to see the grin on Clara's lips and he shouted, "_I've got my pants on_!" The Doctor twisted back to look to Ella and saw she was grimacing. "Why's she got that face?"

Clara snorted and he looked back up at her to find her holding a hand over her mouth. Then she shifted to pull a towel out from the pile and calmly watched him. For a moment he considered what could be so funny, but then he heard a trickle of bubbles underneath the water and he slowly turned back to the baby now staring up at him with a smile as a small dribble of poop rolled up to the surface of the water.

"Floaters," Clara told him, "That is just one of at least twelve reasons you don't bathe a baby this way."

He lifted the baby when Clara held the towel out, ready to cradle her head and backside before he admitted, "She urinated on me."

Her eyebrows lifted and she wrinkled her nose, "About right for _daddy_, eh Ella," she teased, looking to the girl now smirking at her, "Let's get you to the sink."

Turning, Clara began to walk away as the Doctor called, "She doesn't like the sink!"

"Make sure you wash well," Clara sang loudly.

The Doctor dropped his eyes to the object now resting against his bent knee and he dropped his head slightly, muttering, "Next time I'm waking you."


	33. 03 YR - The Smithers Pirates

The Doctor landed just inside of Clara's living room and he happily swung a lever up, parking her and turning because the door was already creaking open. He could see the tiny hand curling around the frame as Clara's voice called a warning to the little girl who pushed her head in anyways and gave him a wide smile and an easy giggle just before pushing inside and rushing towards him, her pigtails hopping about on either side of her head.

"Daddy," she shouted, "We're going to the beach!"

He caught her, swinging her into the air to do a quick twirl as he gaped up at her excited face and watched her clap her hands together. He could see, peeking out from the small flowery dress she wore, the green straps of her tiny bathing suit and when he brought her back down against his chest to kiss her nose and listen to her giggle, he knew Clara was watching. Out of the corner of his eye, as Ella questioned whether they would be going to a space beach, or an Earth beach, the woman strode towards him with an appreciative smirk, settling an oversized bag down into a chair and giving her straw hat a tap of her finger.

"Florida has wonderful beaches, a lot less crowded the further back in time we travel," he told the girl, tapping her cheek with his knuckle before looking up to Clara, now crossing the console to stand in front of him, lips twisted into a loving smile. "Or we could find a tropical island," he continued, eyes shifting up to meet Clara's as she wrapped her arms around his waist, "Our own island in the middle of the ocean."

"Like Pirates!" Ella shouted.

Clara laughed first and the Doctor silenced her with a kiss, shrugging as he drifted back and told Ella quickly, "Quite like pirates, and we could bury some treasure."

Her small face shifted to one of surprise and then she turned her gaze away and they both knew she was considering all of her belongings in the Tardis and what she could bury. Settling her down, he listened as Clara laughed while the girl rushed swiftly towards the corridors and when he turned back, Clara was shaking her head in amusement, "Suppose it'll be your responsibility to tell her we can't leave that piece of the Eye of Harmony behind on a lonely island."

He chuckled, "You know she'll think treasure is one of her dolls."

"What if she buries you?" Clara questioned playfully.

The Doctor hugged Clara to him and dropped his brow, teasing, "_I'm no treasure. _Besides, I imagine she'd be down for a nap before finishing a hole long enough for this frame."

Clara inched up and offered a light peck on his lips, whispering, "Good then, because I'm not likely to part with my loot."

They chuckled together and the Doctor nodded towards the console and then back at the corridors and Clara shifted away from him, going to find their daughter to ensure her safety as he took them into the vortex, searching out a small island that sat three hundred years into the past. One that was safe and quiet and occupied by nothing more than palm trees and turtles and when they landed, he could hear the small squeal coming back towards him, moving past him, and slamming into the door with a quiet, "_Ouchie_."

"She's settled on the necklace you got her in Prague."

Straightening, he shot, "But that's actually valuable."

Clara nodded, passing him with a light tap on his back end to whisper, "I know, that's why she chose it – _go get changed_." She lifted her bag and turned as she reached the door and settled a hand on Ella's head, "And into something _appropriate_, Doctor."

Watching him raise two fingers before twisting and tearing off towards his wardrobe, Clara opened the front door and peered out, looking in either direction as she kept a tight hold on the squirming toddler beside her and when she decided it was safe, she released her, laughing and calling her name as she sloshed through the dampened sand. Clara settled them a few feet away, and rummaged through their bag, tossing Ella's pail and shovel to the ground and smirking when the girl immediately went to work digging away, and she found the sunblock, stripping Ella of her dress and then slathering the girl as she worked diligently to make a hole, plucking seashells out to examine and toss into her bucket.

When the Tardis doors opened again, Clara glanced up, but it was Ella who shouted happily, "Daddy has Tardis pants!" at the blue police boxes that adorned the swim trunks.

Clara, however, was laughing over the matching teal bowtie circling his neck, gesturing up at him to say, "I don't believe that's part of the ensemble, Doctor."

He frowned, tugging on either side of the item before Ella supplied, "Bowties are cool, mummy."

Pointing, the Doctor nodded his approval and Clara shook her head, standing and pulling her own dress over her head to shove into her bag. The Doctor swallowed roughly as he took in the two piece red suit that was perfectly modest and yet still made him blush and he caught her before she could spread sunblock on her own shoulders, taking the bottle to drop some into his hands to lather her as Ella squinted up at them.

"If we're pirates," the girl mumbled, "We need a pirate name."

"We're the Smiths," the Doctor nodded, but the girl shook her head and he looked disappointed and for a moment, Clara turned to try and explain that Ella was an Oswald, but the girl stood and planted her hands at her waist, gaining their attention.

"Smithers, Argh!" She shouted before skipping around them waving her shovel in circles until she fell over and became fascinated with a small crab skittering away.

"I don't believe pirates actually _argh_," the Doctor told Clara, "I've met pirates and they were actually quite civilized – well, they were _pirates_, but I don't recall…" She leaned back into him and looked up and he laughed nervously.

"Doctor, let her have her fun," Clara whispered.

He nodded, hands resting on her shoulders, "Fun, _right_, absolutely," he looked to Ella, now kicking at the waves calmly lapping the shoreline, "Ella! _Argh_!"

The girl made a hook of her right hand and forefinger and hunched slightly, screaming, "_ARGH_!"

Ella rushed back and jammed her shovel into the sand in a new spot further up the beach and Clara took the Doctor's hand to lead him towards her, urging him down onto the ground so she could massage lotion into his pale shoulders as their girl began making a pile. Clara could see the necklace held tightly in her left hand as she smiled up at them.

"Pirates on the tele have patches," she tapped the shovel to her face and then spat the sand that landed against her nose and mouth. "But our eyes are ok, so we don't need them," she finished with a nod. She looked up at Clara, some unspoken question in her small face before she simply grinned and turned back to the hole, "We can make a map, daddy. A star map to remember how to find the treasure."

Clara gave the Doctor's shoulders one last circle of her palms and then moved around to sit beside the girl concentrated on her hole. "We can plot it into the Tardis," she offered.

Ella handed her a blue seashell, waiting for her to examine it, and then she turned to the Doctor, "Could we plot it in Gallifreyan, daddy, so no one but us can read it?"

"Absolutely we could," the Doctor leaned forward to tell her, watching her eyes light up excitedly as he added, "That's a brilliant thought, Ella – _our own pirate code_." He glanced to Clara, "I've always wanted my own pirate code."

Shovel held tight in her fist, Ella raised her hand to shout, "We're Smithers from Gallifrey, here to bury our booty," and then she dissolved into a fit of giggles, silently repeating, "_Bury our booty_," as she dropped the necklace into the hole. She continued chuckling as she smoothed her pile of sand over it and gave it several quick pats before grinning up at the Doctor and then Clara, "But we're not _really_ pirates, mummy, we don't steal things."

Nodding, Clara affirmed, "Yes, sweetheart, we're good, though I suppose there could be good pirates, couldn't there be, Doctor?"

Shifting towards her, the Doctor picked Ella up as she squealed and he placed her on his lap, releasing a sigh when she leaned back against him and dropped her shovel to fiddle with his fingers, small content smirk on her face. "There's definitely room in the universe for good pirates, Ella. I've met good pirates – decent crew of men who were lead by a very good father who would go to the end of the universe to protect his child." He gestured up at the sky, "I reckon they're still flying about up there, exploring those stars."

Ella smiled up knowingly at the Doctor and she reached up with a sandy hand to pull his face closer to kiss his chin before she asked lightly, "The stars are the best treasures, aren't they daddy?"

Looking down at the girl waiting, he shook his head and poked her nose and told her firmly, "You're the best treasure, Ella, and I'm very glad we've got you."

Pushing off the sand, Clara ran her fingers through his hair and held out a hand to the blushing girl he held, offering, "How about you come with mummy for a swim?"

Nodding enthusiastically, she bounced to stand and reached for Clara, moving with her towards the calm ocean. The Doctor sighed contentedly as he watched them wade into the waters, Clara dropping slowly to sit as Ella splashed a circle around her and when they stopped and turned to him, beckoning him into the waters, he smirked before standing and clumsily making his way towards them, accidentally belly flopping just next to Clara, to Ella's amusement.

He lifted the girl out of the water and listened to her laugh as he swung her around so her feet cut the surface of the ocean, tickling her toes. Then he rested her against his chest to tell her about the island and how it rose from the Earth's plates and would one day become a beautiful home for millions of people. Ella laid her palm at the center of his chest as she looked out over the island and then found Clara nearby, smiling up at them and she sighed, turning to the Doctor.

"Daddy," she whispered, waiting for his nod, "I'm very glad I've got you both too."


	34. 09 MO - Bow Tie Nom

Her babbles could be heard throughout the Tardis and they echoed on the console out of the monitor he kept there – turned on despite Clara's presence in the nursery space of her expanded room. The Doctor smiled because the woman in question was humming lightly, her voice coming closer to the chorus of _da's_ and _ba's_ Ella was shouting, obviously dissatisfied with the uselessness of something within her crib.

"Ah, sweetie," Clara sang, "Let's not chew on that," and he heard Ella's small whimpers of protest.

_But mummy, my mouth hurts_.

He smiled because her teeth were starting to come in and he imagined Clara would be searching the room for anything other than the book she'd been gnawing. A book that was made of rigid plastic pages that did nothing to sooth the ache she was feeling. Ella began to cry and he could hear Clara shushing her gently as the little girl mumbled, "Mumma, no," several times, accompanied by the thump of something thick hitting the mattress inside of her crib.

The little girl, he knew, was slapping away whatever Clara was offering her and he finally heard a frustrated sigh and then there was the soft crinkle of the baby girl's diaper as Clara lifted her against her chest, muting her tears with a lullaby and then he heard, "Oh, _there it is_. You've gotten fairly good at _hiding_ _things_ from me," and Clara groaned, bending into the crib to retrieve something he imagined had gotten tangled in Ella's blanket.

He smirked because Ella brightened, giving a set of squeaks that meant nothing more than her sudden happiness and then he could hear her long 'mmmmmmm' as she took whatever it was into her mouth. He settled them in the stars and listened to the little girl mumble, "Dadda?" and he nodded slowly, turning and making his way through the corridors and when he stepped into the room, his smile faded as he pointed.

"Clara, she's chewing on my bow tie!" He whined.

Ella pointed back and squealed, mouth clamping and unclamping on the purple strip to repeat, "Dadda, dadda, _dadda_!"

With a devious smile, Clara nodded and shrugged, "Only thing that really helps."

"Teething rings," the Doctor shot.

"She hates them," Clara replied.

The Doctor stepped into the room, ignoring Ella's continued chanting of his name as he argued, "_Amber beads_ – we went to an _actual amber mining colony_ to get the most pure and proper amber beads because you read in some Earth magazine with baby nonsense that they were the best…"

"Tore the necklace in half, flicked every single bead onto the floor." Clara tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, reminding, "I slipped on one, remember? And you scanned her to make sure she hadn't eaten any of them."

He slumped, watching the baby girl's green eyes disappear as she smiled widely, drool soaking into the purple fabric between her gums. "Clara..." he moaned, hands rising and then slapping back against his thighs.

"Oh, hush," Clara shot, "I wash them every night…"

"Every night," he yelped, gesturing at her, "She's been sopping more than just the one in her baby slobber?"

Giving him a long sigh and a small smile, Clara nodded, "Ella likes your bow ties. You know she's teething and they're the only things that make her feel better and honestly, I'll buy you new ones if it bothers you so much."

"Buy _her_ new ones," he spat.

Shaking her head, "She only wants yours, _dadda_."

Ella called out, "Dadda!" and then hummed at him.

The Doctor watched the girl as she gripped the two strips emerging from either side of her lips, gumming the fabric within her smile and he shook his head, reaching out for her and taking her up against his chest. "I suppose," he began softly, "If they make your gums feel better against the horrifically painful ripping entrance of those new teeth… I _suppose_," he looked to Clara, "But honestly, _my bow ties_ – how did you even figure that out?"

Shrugging, Clara offered, "Was doing laundry and she was sort of rummaging through it all to 'help' and she found your bow tie and started to chew on it. I tried to take it away, really I did, Doctor, but it's the only thing that's kept her from crying – not even the medicated gel works as well as your silly bow ties."

Ella mumbled against the item in question and the Doctor snorted, informing her, "She says they're not silly." The girl mumbled again and he smiled, "And they smell like daddy, which makes her feel better."

Brow dropping, Clara nodded and then she took a breath and smiled to the girl.

Stepping closer to her, the Doctor whispered, "Suppose it's no different from her happiness when I wrap her in your jumpers to get her to fall asleep to keep her from waking you."

"You wrap her in my jumpers?" Clara asked.

"You comfort her," he replied, palming her cheek and giving it a small swipe of his thumb.

Ella pointed and let out a string of quiet syllables before plucking the bow tie out of her mouth to shift up and towards Clara so she could take her back and when she'd settled in her arms, she called to her quietly, "Mumma, _seeeeeeep_."

"Looks like someone might need a nap," the Doctor whispered.

Clara kissed the girl's forehead and took hold of the bow tie, but Ella's grip on it tightened and she muttered, "Bowta dadda," before settling the strip between her gums again.

The Doctor brushed a hand over the baby girl's head and laughed lightly, waiting for the girl to meet his eyes to bend, nodding and smiling and telling her on a sigh, "What's a few chewed bow ties, huh, Ella?"

Grinning back at him widely, so he could see the beginnings of one of her top teeth, he chuckled as Ella tugged on each end of the bow tie clamped in her mouth and then she dropped into Clara's collar, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes tightly. The Doctor watched Clara as she began to pace the room, body swaying slightly as she went, and he moved to turn down the lights. Ella curled her palm around the edge of Clara's cardigan, folding the material over the back of one end of the bow tie, bringing both to cover her nose and drift to sleep.


	35. 12 YR - First Run

Clara was shaking her head, but Ella was on the verge of tears because her father had already said yes – had already promised as a gift for her birthday – and the longer Clara watched her, trying to convey how much she disagreed with a simple look, the more she realized she couldn't say no. Not on this day; not to this girl. Clenching her jaw and turning her eyes towards the Doctor, whose smile faded slowly as he straightened away from her, Clara finally said softly, "One trip," she raised a finger, "One planet because you're thinking about a planet already…"

Ella jumped into her, arms swooping around her shoulders in a tight hug as she squealed with excitement, shouting, "_Thank you, thank you_, _thank you, mum_! I promise I'll behave; I'll do whatever dad says. I won't get into trou…"

Inhaling sharply as she pulled the girl back, Clara interrupted, "Don't say you won't get into trouble because I know the two of you and you will, most definitely, get into trouble."

The Doctor was raising his right hand, forefinger and thumb held an inch apart as he mouthed with a wince, "Just a spot, really."

Tilting her head, Clara responded, "I hardly call caving in a mountain a _spot_."

"Technically that was your fault," the Doctor pointed out as Ella looked between them.

Clara's mouth fell open and then clamped shut and she swallowed roughly, allowing, "Be back in an hour. _One hour_!" She hissed.

"Where are _they_ going?" Clara turned to look at the six year old who was suddenly clinging to her left leg, dark eyes like large saucers staring up at her with a pout. "Mummy, you said we can't go in the Tardis separate – you said we had to stick tog…"

Touching her daughter's head of thick chestnut locks, she began to smile before she stiffened, "Micah, you left Elliot in the tub," and she tugged her up into her arms to race into the hall, the smaller girl shouting, "_He's almost three, I think he can bathe himself already_. _Honestly, mummy_!"

The Doctor tapped Ella on the top of the head and when she turned, he was smirking, one hand held out and she smiled as she reached for it, grabbing hold tightly and rushing with him towards the Tardis in the yard. They rushed up the ramp towards the console space and landed with mirrored laughs and the Doctor took a moment to look his daughter over.

Her skin was pale, small nose splattered with light freckles, and her wide eyes shimmered a brighter green than his own with excitement at the notion that she'd be taking a trip to the stars with her father. Just the two of them, the way it never was. He smiled and nodded to her, seeing her automatically reach out for the controls, long slender arms she loved to wrap around them randomly because their elder daughter was a hugger. A dreamer, a dancer, and a hugger who loved to spin around the console with him and had taken to the Tardis like a fish in water.

Throwing a lever up, she giggled at him before tilting her head just as Clara would, to ask, "Do you think we should have checked to make sure everything was alright before we left?"

Smiling, the Doctor leaned against the console and dropped his head slightly to offer, "When have you ever known your mother to not have control over a situation."

Ella laughed and nodded and she guided them to her favorite place. A place in deep space with caves and glowing birds and an indigenous people who communicated through song and dance and always made Ella remember the universe was magical despite the horrors it held. But the Tardis yanked in a different direction and she glanced up to see the worry on her father's face as they settled somewhere entirely… _elsewhere_.

"Dad," she began, "Where are we?"

He shifted closer to her and whispered cautiously, "Not entirely sure, but I suppose it wouldn't be too dangerous to take a peek."

Her breathing quickened as she nodded, then shook her head, "We promised mum…"

The Doctor smiled and held out his hand again and told her quickly, "Ella, we're out in the universe. The vast and complicated network of galaxies that spread out through space like a never-ending catacomb, or cobweb, and we've just been caught in a moment, in a place. Wrapped in a cocoon, if you will, of a spider of a planet and it's for a purpose. Everything has a purpose and there's no discovering it if we rush back home to _mummy_…"

"You give mum pretty speeches," Ella groaned, "And then we end up in trouble."

Straightening, he mumbled, "Oh, you are her daughter, aren't you."

She smiled proudly and then she pointed, "Still," she said quickly, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a look."

He pointed, "Said yourself, we promised mum."

"I promised mum I would listen to you."

The Doctor released a small breath of amusement and he reached for Ella's cheeks, pulling her close to kiss her forehead before dropping his hands to her bony shoulders, knowing she'd be tall and thin – and no one in the universe would question she was his daughter in spite of the truth. He gave her shoulders a rub and then moved around her, towards the door where he nodded, "Take my hand, Ella, and whatever you do, don't let go."

Rushing forward, her purple skirt dancing around her the dark grey leggings that matched her cardigan and she giggled – the exact same giggle he'd expect from Clara – as her hand came out to hold his tightly, other hand rounding his arm as she stood beside him.

Grabbing hold of the door, the Doctor opened his mouth and then clamped it shut, turning to Ella to see the large eyes that waited with an excited smile and he released the door to gesture at her, "Ella, no speeches, no pretty words, just rules now – _important rules_ – and first is… well… first is I lie."

"I know," she told him readily with a quick nod, watching his brow come together tightly before she shrugged and tilted her head quickly to add, "Sorry dad, love you, but I've sort of noticed it."

Smiling proudly, he nodded and then continued, "There are loads of rules, you've probably heard them all then – or noticed – but the most important, the actual most important rule of travelling with me is find a hand to hold and don't let go and the best hand to hold would be the one you've got now."

Ella grinned and gave his palm a squeeze, "Gotcha then."

"Gotcha," he repeated, lifting his hand to the door again and whispering with raised eyebrows and a devious grin, and with his daughter, he uttered a quiet, "Geronimo," before opening the door.


	36. 07 MO - Out of the Fire

The heat of the fire was enough to make Clara wince, but she could hear the little girl screaming in the room and even though she knew in her heart it was just a nightmare, the terror froze the blood in her veins as she rushed forward. It was the old factory, the one they'd found Ella in, and it was crumbling around her, metal beams clanging to the ground, the stomps of Cybermen approaching from all sides, and a call, repeated over the pounding in her chest, "_You will be upgraded_."

"_Ella_!" Clara shouted, hissing when flames licked at her ankle as she brought her arm up to her nose to shield herself from the smoke and embers floating around her. "_Ella, I'm coming_!" And then she looked about and demanded, "_Doctor_!"

Moving forward, she carefully worked her way through the wreckage, waiting to hear the sound of the Sonic, or some triumphant joke from his lips just before he assured her everything would be alright, but all she heard were the whines of robotic joints as they marched inward towards the steady tears of a baby girl Clara couldn't find. She coughed against the smoke and peered through the waves of fumes and she saw her, settled in a pile of soot, hands and knees blackened from crawling, small swipes of charcoal over her pale skin.

Clara darted towards her, inhaling deeply despite how it burned at her lungs and as she entered the clearing, the little girl turned in her direction, eyes momentarily wide with fear before her lips shook and she released a long bellow that began with a pained, "_Mumma_!"

Swooping her up, Clara held her tightly to her chest, kissing her cheek and forehead and, despite herself, telling her firmly, "It's alright, baby, _mummy's got you_."

Ella gripped at her cardigan at her chest and shoulder and she burrowed her head into Clara's neck, screaming in terror as Clara repeatedly told her she was safe. Then the metal hand clamped down on her shoulder and she shouted out when she saw the darkened eyes staring down at her until she shot up in bed, palms thrusting out into the breasts of a man who fell backwards with a grunt as Clara took a long shaky breath and looked around the room before untangling herself from the sheets to stumble away from the bed and shoot the Doctor a confused look.

"You were having a nightmare," the Doctor whispered, hands raised slightly, cheeks burning as he swallowed and watched Clara tug her nightgown back down over her hips to fall loosely at her thighs. "Are you alright?"

Shaking her head slowly, she shifted to turn, still feeling unsteady as she made her way to the crib on the other side of her bedroom, holding tight to the railings as she watched the baby inside sleeping calmly. Eyes closing, Clara tried to control her breathing, and then she reached into the crib and carefully pulled the little girl up to her chest to cradle, checking her over with a gentle hand as Ella sighed in her arms, a smile turning her tiny lips up.

Without looking to the Doctor, Clara admitted, "I dreamt we were back at the factory; they were going to convert us and you," she lifted her eyes to meet his, "You weren't there."

He looked to the ground guiltily as Clara began to make a slow circle around the room, looking to the plump pale cheeks and the calm eyes on the infant she held. They'd had her three months and already she couldn't imagine a life without her and she knew it was a dangerous thought, tried to tuck it away in the back of her mind, but Clara found herself checking over the girl again before settling a long warm kiss to her forehead, listening to the calm sigh Ella released in response against her neck.

Clara stopped as she reached the bed and she dropped her knuckles to brush against the Doctor's cheek, offering lightly, "Wasn't your fault."

He nodded and smiled weakly up at her, "Clara, she's safe."

She sat next to him and he lifted his arm to drape over her shoulder, holding her securely as they both watched Ella sleeping. The little girl gripped at her own onesie and then sneezed lightly as they both chuckled and Clara found her eyes drifting shut as her head tilted into the Doctor and she smiled when he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his hand rubbing at her shoulder. "I'm afraid of the day we're not there to protect her," she admitted, "If we don't find her parents; if we don't…" her words faded but they both understood – if they didn't keep her for their own, and the Doctor knew, from her mumbled words just before she woke… subconsciously Clara was already thinking of Ella as her own, even though she fought him on the subject while awake.

Kissing her again, he leaned his head into hers and touched a knuckle to Ella's cheek, telling her plainly, "I promise she'll always have _someone_ looking out for her, Clara."

She nodded in response to his words and when she lifted her head to look at him, she leaned into his delicate kiss comfortably before smirking and looking back to Ella. The corners of her puckered mouth shifted up into a smile in her sleep and Clara imagined she was dreaming of the lovely places they'd visited, not hindered by the fears of the universe they'd been sheltering her from. She was thankful for that and she silently promised, for as long as she could, for as long as she was allowed, she would be that _someone_ for Ella.


	37. 05 YR - Second Arrival

She'd been showing off her Halloween costume, ready for the festivities just a few days away, when her mother suddenly winced, hand rounding her stomach and Ella froze, eyes widening and watching the woman who took several long breaths before opening her eyes to waddle towards Ella's bed. Following her slowly, Ella laid a hand at her knee and bent slightly to meet Clara's terrified gaze and she felt her own small heart pounding with a fear she'd never known – _her mother was in pain and she had no clue of what to do_.

"Ella, sweetheart," Clara told her softly, lifting a hand to rub at her shoulder soothingly as she forced a smile onto her quivering lips before nodding and finishing, "Please go get your father."

For a moment she remained at her side, looking from her mother's suddenly pale face to the hand she held firmly against her rounded belly and then Ella turned with a gasp and broke into a run out of her bedroom. She zipped through the corridors and slammed into his legs as he'd turned from the console with a laugh, "Ella, you're louder than a Judoon platoon! What's the hurry?"

Breathing heavily as her father smiled down at her, she coughed, "Mummy," and she watched the grin on her father's lips disappear as he straightened and then rushed back to the room she'd come from.

Clara had laid herself down, settling onto her side, one hand covering her eyes as the other remained atop her stomach, rubbing into it and Ella listened as the Sonic buzzed and the Doctor laughed, "She's a comin'."

Moving swiftly back towards the console after planting a kiss to Clara's forehead, the Doctor left Ella in the room to stand next to her mother. The girl lifted one hand, watching it twitch slightly with fear as she settled it beside her mother's on her stomach, asking quietly, "The baby's coming?"

Her mother chuckled lightly and nodded, "Yeah, sweetie," then she frowned, "I'm sorry I scared you."

Ella shook her head and then winced, "Does it hurt, having a baby?"

She could see the apprehension in her mother's eyes and she swallowed roughly as the woman admitted gently, wrapping her hand around hers, "Yes, it does, but I don't want you to worry about that – it doesn't hurt for long and when it's over, we'll have your baby sister."

A small smile overtaking her lips, Ella bent slightly and whispered, "_Micah, try not to hurt mummy – she's really nice, I promise_."

She could hear her mother's laugh and she crawled into the bed, hugging Clara from behind and laying her cheek to hers, feeling the warmth there and trying, as her mother had asked her, not to worry. Ella tried not to worry as they landed on Earth inside of a hospital and she tried not to worry as she sat in a room listening to her mother's moans of pain, held back by clenched teeth, and she tried not to worry when her grandfather arrived and took her out to the cafeteria where she found it difficult to swallow even the smallest bits of food.

Looking to the older man who sat next to her, a distant look in his eyes, she asked, "Grandpa, when is Micah going to be here?"

The man laughed and scratched at his temple, looking to her to answer honestly, "I'm sorry, Ella, I don't know – babies are sort of odd things… could be cleaning her up right now, or it could be tomorrow." Then he shifted to reach for her hands, nervously turning over each other in her lap, "Don't you worry, as soon as she's ready, we'll head back in to meet her, alright?"

Ella pushed her lips together and then smiled, uttering, "Yeah."

She found herself on a couch watching old cartoons for what seemed like hours and she thought about her father, a man who was often bored by the regular passage of time, and how he would be pacing that room. Ella closed her eyes and thought about the time they spent the day in a library and how he'd constructed a full fort from the books while Clara read calmly to her and her unborn sister. And suddenly she was being shaken slightly, her father whispering lightly in her ear, "Ella, darling, wake up – someone's waiting to meet you."

Her eyes popped open and she heard her mother's laugh, a sound that warmed her heart and calmed her nerves and when she pushed up from her grandfather's chest, yawning and glancing around, she saw the small bundle her mother held. So very small, she thought as her father took her into his arms and walked towards her mother, lying in the hospital bed with tears in her eyes and a wide smile on her lips.

All of the fear had faded and her color had returned and Ella sighed before dropping her eyes to the thin fingers flexing out against the thick white blanket wrapped around the infant her mother held. "She's so tiny," Ella breathed, leaning forward to try and get a better look.

Clara shifted the blanket aside and the baby inside moped and then broke into a shrill cry that stiffened Ella's body as everyone in the room laughed. "Oh, sweetheart, don't be scared – she's just a bit hungry."

"Should maybe take her out for a few moments then," the Doctor offered, imagining that maybe they'd save the explanation of a mother's milk for the next day, and he watched Clara nod as she shifted.

"No, wait," Ella hissed, afraid to bring her voice higher because she didn't want to frighten the small girl quieting in her mother's arms. She pointed and the Doctor lowered her closer to Micah so she could see the pouted rosy lips, round nose, and closed eyes that slowly opened to look up at her big sister curiously. "Hello, Micah," Ella whispered and she glanced to her father and asked him calmly, "Can I give her a kiss?"

"Of course you can," both of her parents responded lightly, both with the same wavering tone of oncoming tears and when the Doctor leaned her forward, she landed her lips to the soft warm forehead in front of her.

"Micah," Ella sighed, "I'm Ella and I'm your big sister," she took a long breath and dropped her voice lower to tell her sister secretly, "Don't worry, Micah, everything out here's a bit mad, but I'll always keep you safe." And then she kissed her again and breathed, "Because I love you so much." She kissed her a third time and laughed when the baby brushed her fingers against her cheeks.

The Doctor released a chuckle when Micah opened her mouth and let out the tiniest of squeaks and as he straightened, he poked Ella in the stomach and waited until the girl's eyes met his to tell her, "She says she knows your voice and she loves you very much as well."

Shoulders slumping with relief, Ella giggled and then turned and wrapped her arms around her father as they began to walk towards the hall with her grandfather and Clara smirked and looked down at the baby girl sucking on her own lips and she sighed to offer her a breast she latched onto eagerly. "Ella's been our gift from the universe for so long," Clara told her daughter quietly, "And now, Micah," she ran a knuckle along the soft cheek at her bosom and lifted her left hand to watch it wrap easily around her pinky, "I suppose she's yours too."


	38. 10 MO - Daycare Blues

The daycare was louder than she'd expected. Clara didn't know why she thought she'd enter a room full of sleeping infants, instead of a nursery full of crying or babbling babies – and there were no in-betweens. She looked from one child to the next and then at the little girl in her arms whose brow was knotted in confusion as she passed her bright eyes over the room and then pouted at Clara and shook her head.

Tilting her head to touch it to Ella's, she whispered, "I'm sorry baby, but mummy has to go to work and I can't leave you on the Tardis."

"Daddy taddee!" Ella muttered in response, fingers coming up to play with the collar of her blouse.

Kissing her forehead, she straightened and took a long breath, walking towards a woman she recognized and they settled Ella down next to another girl her age loudly banging two blocks together and screeching and Clara winced just before kneeling to kiss Ella one more time as the little girl looked up at her. "I am _so sorry_," she moped, standing and making her way quickly towards the front door to push through and take another long breath, knowing she had to be at work in a half hour and knowing the girl she'd just left inside of that room hadn't been away from her and the Doctor for more than just a few minutes in the past six months.

Ella glanced at the door, a small smile on her face as she clapped and called, "Mumma?"

Her small eyebrows rose as she waited, because Ella expected the woman to pop her head back in because Ella imagined this was some sort of game. Why wouldn't it be a game? Turning when she heard the loud crack of two blocks striking one another, she shook her head at the other girl, reaching out and snatching one block and tossing it across the room easily.

"No," she shouted.

"_Ella_," an attendant warned, "That's not nice, throwing toys."

'_It's not nice making so much noise either_!' she mumbled in response with a quick shake of her head as she pushed her lips together and exhaled roughly into them.

The door opened and she whipped her head around, frowning when she saw a man enter with a boy in overalls and a crop of bright ginger hair who had his finger shoved up his nose. Ella wrapped her arms around herself and surveyed the room before pushing up to stand, walking away from the child now crying over her missing block and she moved in an odd toddle towards a desk, grabbing hold of a cord and pulling the phone free, watching it dangle before she picked it up and pressed it to her ear with both hands.

"Daddy?" She called before rattling off quickly, '_Mummy's left me in a strange place and I'd like you to bring the Tardis and pick me up_.'

The phone was pulled from her hand and she was lifted into the air with a quiet, "Ah, we've got a walker on our hands. Ten months, fairly impressive."

Frowning, Ella took several small breaths as she looked to the door. The woman holding her carried her towards a playpen and settled her inside, beginning to shake some bright blue toy in her face while making odd noises before another sobbing infant grabbed her attention and she stood, going towards the little girl who had smacked herself in the face with the block.

Hmphing loudly, Ella stood and moved to grab the netting in front of her, fingers scratching over the surface before she called out, "Mumma!" She curled her palms over the padded edging above her and screamed again, this time with the small twinge of terror that the woman wasn't returning. Ella pushed her feet into the side and climbed up before she was lifted into the air again.

"Climbing too?" The woman who held her turned to another worker, "What'd you say her parents do for a living?"

With a shrug, the other woman replied, "Mum's a teacher; dad's a, uh, consultant for UNIT or something."

"UNIT?" Came the curious response. "Military group?"

Ella's chest was shaking as she looked around and then burst into tears. She could hear the woman who held her laughing about how she needed time to adjust and Ella screamed louder, pushing at the arms that held her and ignoring the woman's requests for her to quiet down. She slapped away an owl hand puppet and tossed a bottle filled with milk and scattered a handful of treats over the floor until she watched them lift a phone and dial a number, a nervous, "Ah, yes, is this the, _uh_, is this _the Doctor_?" breaking through her cries.

Hours later, Clara pulled into a space at the daycare and she rushed up the steps, trying her best to put on a smile because she was exhausted and when she pushed open the door, she was surprised to find the Doctor seated on a chair against the wall, clapping Ella's hands with his own before he turned to give her a frown as she asked, "What happened?"

Turning quickly, Ella immediately fell into another round of horrible sobs and Clara moved carefully around several children to pick her up, holding her to her chest as the Doctor explained, "Seems she's got a touch of separation anxiety. Been trying to convince her all day that this place is brilliant – I mean, have you seen the hand puppets – but she's been fairly adamant that she simply wants her mummy."

Eyes closing, Clara rocked the girl, listening to her mumbling in her ear and she pressed several kisses into her face, one hand rubbing gently against her back as she felt her own tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, baby girl, but mummy has to go to work."

The Doctor nodded, "She understands that, but she'd like to go to work with you."

Clara laughed and whispered, "If I could, Ella, I would take you everywhere with me."

Standing, the Doctor approached her and urged her out of the room where the two women tending to the children were watching them curiously. "Best if we take this to the Tardis, eh?" He whispered.

They moved into the hall and Clara turned to tell him, "We can't just jump in the Tardis, Doctor. First, I've got my car parked outside and second, she has to get used to a normal life."

"A normal life - what does that even mean Clara?" He challenged on a laugh. "She's spent six months in a space ship travelling through the stars; do you really think she'll just take to Earth so easily?"

Shaking her head, Clara spat, "No, but I didn't think I'd get _landed with a child_ either – I've been the one re-arranging my entire life for her. _For her_, Doctor!"

"Mummy?" Ella questioned, interrupting her.

Clara blinked and sent tears over her cheeks as she looked down at the girl she held, the girl laying her palm into the hollow of her neck and staring up at her sadly, "I'm sorry, Ella," Clara whispered, "Mummy knows this isn't easy for you at all – mummy knows this is very hard."

Offering a small smile, one that made Clara close her eyes and laugh, Ella sighed and began to mumble at her in a way that made the Doctor nod and turn away. Looking towards him, Clara waited as he planted his hands on his waist and admitted, "She doesn't want you to go to work; she wants you to stay with daddy on his ship. And she wants a banana after her dinner."

Sighing, Clara rubbed at the girl's back and then told the Doctor solemnly, "Thank you, for coming and being with her today – I have to get home though," she smiled nervously, "Meet you there?"

She watched him nod before he turned and made his way to the Tardis parked just at the end of the hallway and Clara adjusted Ella in her arms, going to the car parked outside where she strapped the girl in and then moved over her, sitting in the back seat at her side as Ella squealed with delight. She imagined she was excited about her sitting in the back seat with her – she hated that Clara sat up front where Ella couldn't twirl Clara's hair or kiss her chin or fiddle with the rings on her fingers.

_The Doctor had told her as much_.

"Ella, we have to make an agreement – _you and I_ – that we're both going to try our very bests to adjust because I know this isn't ideal," she chuckled when Ella giggled, "I know you want to go back to the Tardis because that's been your home, but a home isn't a building or a space ship that makes fun noises."

The girl feigned a wheeze and then shot her arms up with a surprised face.

"Yeah, the Tardis," Clara laughed. "Ella, a home is where you're loved and right now it's this car and in ten minutes it's my flat, and maybe in a few hours, yes, the Tardis. Wherever you're with me, you're home and we have to make this home work," she took the girls hands up to kiss them, "You have to go to daycare and not be angry at mummy because mummy loves you so much and she's just doing her best for you, alright?"

"Lub mumma," Ella responded, her body giving a small hop in her car seat.

She leaned forward to kiss her, feeling her cool palms land on her cheeks to hold her in place and slobber over her chin as Clara laughed. Pulling back, Clara narrowed her eyes and told her playfully, "And now we're going to race daddy home."

"Dadda!" Ella screamed, dancing about.

Moving out of the car and into the driver's seat, she watched Ella in the rear view mope through the mirror attached to the back seat headrest, reaching out and calling to her and she tried to smile enthusiastically, repeating, "Let's get daddy!"

But Ella turned to look at the daycare, sad sigh of acknowledgement passing her lips as she asked her mother in a mumble, "Mummy home?"

Clara turned the key in the ignition and she nodded to her, reaching back to give the top of her head a gently swipe of her fingers as she responded, "I promise, you and me… _and your daddy_… we'll always be a home, Ella. Always come back for you."

The girl offered her a small smile and a bashful covering of her eyes before she rested her head comfortably into the car seat and plucked a purple bow tie from her side to gnaw on. She was asleep by the time they arrived home and Clara carried her up the stairs carefully, walking into her apartment and searching out the Doctor, but knowing he'd overshot his arrival. With a small huff of amusement, she went to the pack-n-play in her living room and laid Ella down inside, running a finger over her cheek and watching the small grin it elicited.

"_Always_, baby girl," she whispered, kissing her fingertips and touching them to Ella's heart.


	39. 17 MO17 YR - Just a Little Glimpse

"It has been a _long_ day," Clara murmured, settling the toddler into her crib aboard the Tardis and as she leaned back, the Doctor was already there, hands coming up to rub at her upper arms as he chuckled and she added, "Don't think I've ever seen her this tuckered out."

Stepping to her side to lift the little girl's blanket over her body, the Doctor offered, with a tilt of his head, "Well, it does take it out of you – chasing around bunnies who find a child's squeals and tumbles amusing, but don't necessarily want to be close enough to experience them from her grip."

"You do realize she might have caught one of them and you'd promised if she had, we'd have let her keep it," Clara sighed.

He turned with a grin, "I was rather hoping she had."

Clara laughed and shook her head, moving out of the bedroom and back towards the console where she looked over the controls and began to type into it to head home, but the Doctor caught her hand, stopping her and shaking his head, "Let's let her settle down a few minutes before we set of the…" he mimicked the Tardis noise and Clara smirked, nodding in agreement.

Shifting aside so he could undo her commands, Clara turned and pressed her back end against the metal edging and she folded her arms over her chest, sighing at the new memories she had of their daughter's playful points and cheeky smiles, excitedly calling, "_Bunny mummy_," before she gave several hops in place and then stumbled after them.

"She's seventeen months old, Doctor," she told him plainly.

He lifted his eyes to her, watching her staring off blankly, a small smile fluttering over her lips. The Doctor understood what she was thinking – just a few months ago the little girl's parents had stormed aboard the Tardis demanding their daughter back only to realize that in their converted state as Cybermen, it would be better to leave the girl with her adoptive parents. Clara had kept continual track of time from three points: from the moment Ella had been born, the moment they'd found her, and the moment she'd watched the girl's mother's body drop heavily against the floor in front of her.

Ella had been someone else's daughter, her charge, and then her daughter.

_In seventeen short months_.

She smiled and he knew she was thinking the girl's second birthday would be coming around before they both knew it; he'd already seen her list of possible themes. Cartoon characters he imagined he'd have to go with her on errands to retrieve, travelling back in time if they were 'out of stock' so she could create the perfect second birthday for their little girl. He smiled shyly and dropped his head because while he'd accepted the role of her father willingly, he seldom took a moment to consider it – he was Ella _Oswald's_ father.

"She's seen so much in seventeen months," Clara stated, smile fading, "And now she's living this split life. A life I've decided is better for her, but is it?"

Glancing up at the way she was watching him, a look of worry marring her features, he shook his head, "Of course it's better for her – she's future human, it's good for her to be on Earth."

"But is it a stable life, Doctor?" She turned to ask, shrugging as she added, "What if she grows up and she's got a twisted sense of the world around her because of our travelling, because of…" her voice drifted as her hand came up slightly and the Doctor nodded.

"Because of me," he finished for her, and he dropped a hand heavily on the controls, offering, "We could take a peek," he snuck a look in her direction before pouting his lips slightly and telling her softly, "A peek into Ella's future, which goes against everything, but… if it would make you…"

"Yes," Clara answered quickly before her eyes went wide, "But no interfering; not talking to her or stopping her or… will it change though? Us seeing it, wouldn't it have an impact on that future?"

He smiled and toggled his head from left to right with a whine, "Does our taking a quick trip into Ella's future – _our future_ – have an impact on that future, or is that future as it is because we took a quick trip. Tricky question." Raising a finger, he pointed to her to say, "Very tricky, _actually_, maybe we shouldn't."

Clara bridged the distance between them and shook her head, "No, one look; one little look and we're off – I just want to know she's alright." Clara looked away, adding, "I just want to know that she's happy."

He lowered his gaze to the console and surmised darkly, "You want to know she's alive."

Exhaling a small breath, Clara turned her eyes back to him and she whispered, "Yes, Doctor, part of me does need to know she's alive."

He twisted his wrist to check his watch and then gave her a sympathetic grin before working the levers in front of him, sending them into the vortex and landing quietly a little over fifteen years into the future. Clara's brow furrowed slightly and she raised her eyes to him with a question that remained unspoken – "_How did the Tardis know where to go_?"

The Doctor could see the hope there and was sorry to have to dash it as he replied, "I've keyed you into the search; the Tardis has found where you'll be living when Ella is seventeen."

They moved slowly towards the doors and Clara listened to the few small moans of a dream that echoed out of the baby monitor at the center of the console before she gripped the handle and smiled, "So, hope we're not still in the flat."

He laughed lightly as they pulled open the door and looked out over a row of houses and he could see Clara grinning because she owned a home. Then that grin faded as she pointed and questioned, "Is that her?"

In the early evening hours, he could make out the lanky teenager in the purple skirt and black cardigan tugging absently at the white collared shirt that lay underneath. The Doctor leaned into the door and smiled, taking in the dark boots and the black leggings and he told her calmly, "That's definitely her."

Clara shook her head, seeing the girl turn towards a boy who came jogging to walk with her, her dark auburn hair swinging over her shoulders as she smiled, hands coming together to pick at her fingers at her waist as Clara asked, "Are you sure?"

The girl bowed her head as the boy began to walk backwards beside her and they both watched her head drop back on a laugh as the Doctor admitted, "She's _just like you_."

"Doctor," she sighed, but she understood perfectly well.

Ella laughed like her and she walked like her, and she carried herself like her. Her skin was paler and Clara imagined the few freckles she had now would have multiplied into a dangerously adorable splatter overtop her nose and cheeks, but the more she watched her talking to the boy, the more she saw her mannerisms. The small bops of her head, the way she bit her lip, her quick nods, except she could also see the Doctor's hand wrapping and his odd bending towards the boy, finger pointed to make a point.

And that's when the boy kissed her.

Clara straightened, eyes going wide and she reached out just in time to stop the Doctor from running towards the girl, one hand outstretched in a wiggly point, lips pressed together furiously. "Doctor," she hissed.

"That_ boy_ is _snogging_ our _baby_!" He whispered harshly in return as Clara pushed him further into the Tardis

He took several steps away and she could hear him arguing with himself under his breath as the boy raised a hand to slip into Ella's dark hair and Clara smirked a bit at the way she leaned into it, and that was the moment the girl slipped back. Clara knew it was some memory of her father that stopped the kiss, some reminder in that innocent gesture that maybe she shouldn't be kissing a boy in public. She watched as Ella raised her head defiantly and she saw the corner of her mouth lift into a grin as the boy fumbled, hands pushing in and out of his pockets.

"We should go," Clara told him before giggling.

"We should track this boy down and warn him about…"

Turning, Clara planted her palms at his shoulders and she shook her head, "She's seventeen – she's gonna have a snog or two every so often, Doctor."

He pointed, mouth open and then clamped it shut, watching Ella continue to twist her hips and tease that boy as he shrugged and writhed nervously. Completely in control of the situation, he knew, just like her mother. After a moment the Doctor dropped his head and when he raised it slightly, he smirked at Clara and told her plainly, "She's happy."

With a smile, Clara nodded, and repeated, "She's happy."

He gave a quick bop of his head, just like the girl down the street did in response to being asked out on a date, and the Doctor moved back to the console chuckling to himself. Clara turned back to the door and she held it, not wanting to close it just yet and when she looked back up at the boy jogging away, she met eyes with the girl there. The girl who merely smiled and then covered it before lifting her hand in a small wave to acknowledge her – knowing exactly who she was and knowing she shouldn't come closer.

It calmed Clara to know Ella recognized her, she'd remained with her – the house she stood in front of truly was theirs – and she heard the door open just before Ella turned quickly towards it, giving the man exiting the house a cheerful laugh before calling, "You've been waiting on that for fifteen years, haven't you?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied, "And just like before, _your mum_ stopped me from coming out to teach an adolescent a lesson!"

Clara took a long breath upon hearing the Doctor's voice emerging from her house and she watched the man make his way down the driveway, arms raised. Ella stepped into them and they both turned to look at her, the Doctor's smile brighter than she'd ever seen it as they made their way back into the house. Closing the door, Clara turned to look at the man at the console, the man who grinned cheesily at her and waited for her to come to his side to drop an arm around hers.

"We could change any of that," he told her quietly.

She shook her head and hugged him tight, telling him, "Nah, wouldn't change a thing."


	40. 05 YR - Words of Advice

The Doctor came down the stairs and swung into the kitchen expecting to find his wife pacing the space with their baby girl. Instead Clara was pulling lunch meat and juice boxes out of their fridge and he smiled, then he frowned and pointed to her and back to the house, quickly asking, "Where's Micah?"

Clara gave a jump before she closed her eyes and laughed and then nodded to offer, "With Ella."

"Ella," the Doctor repeated, "Five year old… she's holding the five day old… she's been left alone with the five day old, at five years old – isn't that rather…" he fumbled, hands turning around each other until Clara turned to give him a raised eyebrows and a tilt of her head.

"_Ill-advised_ is the term you're probably searching for, and yeah, probably is," Clara replied quickly, shifting back to get cheese slices and a set of apples.

"And you're not concerned?" The Doctor inquired quietly, brow knotting to add, "Babies can be quite squirmy and angry and poop-ish and she's got the head thing, the not-yet-formed-completely squishy spot…"

But Clara only chuckled and nodded and supplied, "Ella knows not to touch her head, she knows to be very careful, she knows to hold her sister securely, and she's surrounded by at least a mountain of pillows." Clara landed her palms to his shoulders and told him firmly, "She's a good little girl, Doctor, and it's only for a minute while I make a sandwich."

He grinned, "You're showing her you trust her enough to leave her alone with the baby."

Shaking her head, Clara sighed, "I'm just trying to make a pair of sandwiches."

"And I'm interrupting," the Doctor surmised.

Giving his shoulder a pat, Clara told him, "Why don't you go check on her. Be subtle, please – I don't want her to think you went in to spy on her."

Saluting, he twisted on his heels and stepped out of the kitchen, through the hall, and crouched at the entrance to the living room, seeing Ella staring down at Micah in her lap. Her legs were crossed underneath the baby girl, one arm underneath the baby's head and gripping the baby's shoulder and she was in the midst of a whooshing sound as her right hand swung through the air down at Micah, who blinked and squeaked.

_Sounds scary_.

"Oh, you have no idea," Ella told her on a whisper, bending slightly before touching a knuckle to her own chin and tilting her head, "Micah, there are a lot of scary things out in the universe." She smirked, then giggled at the baby watching her, "But don't you worry, I've come up with a list. Top seven things you have to know about everything."

The Doctor crawled towards the edge of the couch.

"Anything from Groth is as gross as it sounds and don't let daddy convince you to eat it – I'll try to help you with that. You have to pretend to drop it and be sad, then say your tummy hurts. Mummy will take you away quick," Ella smirked, "_I don't think she likes the food either_."

Ella's finger curled into Micah's grip.

"Stay away from flowers unless daddy tells you they're ok. Sometimes they try to eat people," the girl shivered slightly and the Doctor held in a laugh. "Same for animals, because sometimes the cute kitty is really _carnie for us_ – means they want to eat us too." Ella paused, "Loads of things in the universe want to eat us, Micah, we've got to pay attention. Suppose that's the fourth – always pay attention, _mum and dad _tend to wander off."

Taking a long breath, Ella listened as Micah yawned and the baby pressed her own palm into her small cheek as Ella shifted slightly, turning the girl in towards her and re-establishing her grip on the baby. Ella knew if she dropped her it would be terrible and she let Micah's bottom slip into the nest her legs had made, watched her eyes widen slightly before she calmed as the Doctor reached up to grip the edge of the couch to look at the two girls staring at one another as Ella's smile widened.

"If we go to Sferina to get ice cream, the vanilla is alright, chocolate is better; swirl is best, and daddy will always find you sprinkles, and mummy will get you caramel if you behave. And that's important – always behave because the less trouble you get into, the better… and there's loads of _trouble_ you can get into. Universe is a _big bang_ of trouble, Micah." The girl lifted her head to stare off for a moment, admitting, "_Honestly_, it's a bit ridiculous sometimes. Step on a rock, turns out it's a house? You're tied to the ground by tiny people with spears and mummy and daddy have to make _negotiations_."

Looking back to her sister as the Doctor raised his head over the edge of the couch, watching and listening now in fascination, Ella sighed. She traced a path over Micah's face softly with the forefinger of her right hand, one that had the girl taking a long breath as her eyelids fluttered sleepily and the Doctor smiled at the gentle touch knowing Clara was right – she was a good little girl who knew exactly how delicate her tiny sister was.

Licking her lips and tilting forward slightly, Ella told her quietly, "I suppose that's most important. Rule number one: mummy and daddy will always be there for you. They'll save you from the odd spider web you thought was cotton candy, and they'll fish you out of the goopy lagoon you didn't know was really quick sand, and they'll swoop in on eagles if they have to," she giggled at a memory the Doctor smiled at before continuing softly, "Because sometimes trolls kidnap children who don't listen…"

The Doctor felt the tear that rolled from his eye and he lowered his head, touching it to the couch as Ella went on, "And sometimes they'll yell at you, but they're not really angry, Micah, they're scared. They love us so much they'd stop the universe for us and you have to remember that. That's number one of important things to remember – as grand as everything is, as many things as you'll see and do, mum and dad love us more than the universe." She dropped her lips to Ella's forehead and whispered, "Maybe it's eight things on the list, Micah, because really, the real number one thing you have to know about everything is I love you _more_ than mum and dad do," and the Doctor smiled when the baby girl squeaked in response.

A quiet and simple _like I love you_.


	41. 16 MO - A Song at 30,000 Feet

Ella had squealed loudly when the airplane shot down the runway and took off into the air and Clara felt her heart leap into her throat because she imagined, for just that minute, she was going to have to be one of _those_ parents. The ones who took infants on flights and spent the entirety apologizing to other passengers for their unruly child who cried and moped and kicked at the back of seats. And then Ella clapped as she tilted her head forward to see past her father on her right out to the skies and she pointed.

"C'ouds, mummy!" She declared, swinging her head back to Clara, small teeth exposed in her widening smile as she bounced slightly, "C'ouds, daddy!"

"That's right, sweetheart," the Doctor allowed, shifting in his seat to give her a gaping smile back at her, "We're flying in the clouds through the sky and back to London to find the Tardis!"

The girl dropped back in her child seat – one they'd had to rent, with money procured via an ATM the Doctor had sonic'ed – and clapped her hands again, repeating, "Fine the Ta'dis."

It had disappeared. Or rather, the HADS had activated and left them stranded in the middle of America and if it hadn't been for contacts the Doctor already had in DC, they might have been stuck there for quite some time. So they sat on a commercial flight, occupying three seats just in front of the wing, heading back to the Tardis which the Doctor claimed was settled near the rift in Cardiff.

"How long do these flights generally take?" the Doctor asked her quietly.

"Uh," Clara sang lightly, nervously, watching the Doctor check his watch before she frowned, "This one takes about seven and a half hours."

Shooting up and slamming his head into the ceiling, the Doctor shrieked, "Seven and a half hours!"

Clara's hands came up and she pulled at his purple coat, hearing the murmuring around them and seeing a stewardess come over with a reproachful look as she warned, "Sir, please remain seated until the fastened seatbelt sign is turned off by the captain."

He dropped back and Ella shook her head as the Doctor repeated, "Seven and a half hours. Clara, what are we to do for seven and a half hours?"

"Seeeeeeeeeeeeeep," Ella called.

With a grin, Clara nodded, "Good idea, baby girl, why don't we take a little nap."

And together, Ella and the Doctor replied with identical grimaces, "Not tired."

"Of course you're not tired," Clara moped. She was exhausted.

"Mummy p'ay?" Ella encouraged.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor called, "Play a game – we could play a game, pass the time, _I Spy_ possibly? Definitely not _Hide and Seek_ as the fastened seatbelt sign is still annoyingly lit and I presume the American origins of our flight indicate a fairly hostile response should I…"

Clara glanced through the seats at the patrons behind them and the looks of frustration they were offering and she shook her head at the Doctor, interrupting with a quick, "Let's play a quiet game. How about books?" She pulled Ella's bag out from underneath the seat and began to hand the child one of a few colorful books they'd picked up, along with a lavender blanket, and a bottle filled with drinking water purchased just before the flight.

Shaking her head vehemently, Ella moped, "No books, mummy," and she broke into soft humming as she closed her eyes and bopped her head from side to side – a move Clara hoped indicated she would fall asleep soon.

With an apologetic look to the Doctor, who reached for the book and dropped back into his seat, Clara sighed and settled herself and for ten minutes everything seemed like it might be fine. Ella's tune hadn't stopped, but the swaying of her body had and the Doctor was fishing through the contents of a magazine tucked into the back of the chair in front of him.

Everyone on the plane had begun to drift with their fatigue, knowing the sun setting outside of their windows would bring darkness and, possibly, sleep. And then Ella opened her mouth and inhaled and Clara turned just before the girl began to sing aloud in mumbled half-words to music from her Disney collection of learned songs. Beside her, the Doctor jumped and then he laughed and gestured, obviously proud as Clara shook her head.

"No, Ella," she hissed, "This is an airplane, we mustn't sing too loudly."

The girl stopped and frowned, "Why?"

"Because we're disturbing others who are trying to sleep," she told her with a wince because she could see the stares she was getting through the seats.

The girl gestured to herself and nodded, "I sing to s'eep," and Clara understood, she wanted to sing to the entire plane – a lullaby of her own making to help them slumber, but when Clara looked around, there were murmurs and grumbles and a few dirty looks in her direction and she leaned in to Ella.

Taking her small hands, she asked quietly, "Do you think you could sing softly, just to mummy."

Ella bit her bottom lip and she whispered back, "Mummy s'eepy?"

Nodding, Clara affirmed, "Mummy is very sleepy and she would love for you to sing to her, only to her," she finished with a nod Ella leaned into to touch their foreheads together.

"Ok," she whispered, head shifting against hers and then she began to sing again, this time mutedly, bowing slightly as though it helped reduce the sound, and Clara eased her back.

"Close your eyes, Ella."

"Why?" the girl stopped singing to ask.

Clara met the Doctor's curious glance and then he whispered, "You can transfer sleep thoughts better that way, help mummy fall asleep." He looked up and Clara was nodding her approval and the girl seemed to accept it because she pinched her eyes shut and began singing softly again.

Stroking her left arm where it sat on the child seat, Clara watched Ella continue to sing, voice getting lower with each stop she took to yawn and it took her a few moments to realize that the song was echoing. Several passengers had joined in lowly from their seats and Clara glanced around slowly, small smirk of appreciation as they nodded to her. Leaning into her chair, she began to hum herself and before long she was smiling at Ella, fast asleep in her seat, and the Doctor leaned against the window, hugging a lavender blanket to his chest.

Both, she knew, dreaming of stars.


	42. 05 MO - October 3rd

They'd stopped on Earth just after they'd found Ella with a list of items they'd need. Clara had demanded they begin to search the universe for the girl's parents, but she also knew they'd need to take care of the girl because she refused to drop her off at some children's home in the interim. Four months, she'd told herself – four months of supplies and they'd eventually come across a couple who would be thrilled to see their little girls, safe in the arms of strange travelers with good intentions.

Amongst the bottles and the tiny outfits, the pack and play and the blankets and the toys, Clara had thrown a small book into the cart as she'd patted the sleeping child in her arms while humming to keep her calm. The Doctor hadn't given it a second glance because the Doctor presumed Clara knew more about child care than he did and he'd continued to push the cart along, occasionally lifting an item she'd shake her head at. Because no, they didn't need a breast pump, nor did they need a car seat or a fancy swing or a Baby Bullet. Not just yet on the latter items, she'd assured.

They'd find her parents, why would they need to prepare her for solid foods or car rides. Of course, Clara knew she also didn't want to prepare herself for motherhood. She wouldn't need a second pack and play for her home, or a second simple stroller, or a second small tub, or a second anything… all things the Doctor continually pointed out, "_For your flat_."

"_She'll not be at my place; she'll be in the Tardis_," Clara had declared in a harsh whisper.

"_Until we find her parents_," the Doctor had replied sadly.

But she bought the book because despite the fact that it broke her heart to even purchase, she wanted to present it to the girl's parents when they found them. Facts penciled into it, her best guess at the girl's birthday – April 27th, she'd decided – the color of her hair and eyes. A blank for her length and weight at birth because she didn't know. Her first smile the day they'd found her. Clara wasn't sure if it was her first smile, so she wrote in pencil, like everything else, but it'd been the first time she'd seen her smile. Just as she'd lifted her up out of the metal cage with the single sheet wrapped around her.

"_Is that _really_ a baby_?"

Clara hadn't answered the Doctor's shocked inquiry. She'd opened her mouth in a wide grin for the little girl frowning up at her, the screams that had guided them towards her slowing to a set of long confused sniffles and as Clara cradled her to her chest, soothing her with a simple, "_Don't worry, baby, we'll keep you safe for your mummy and daddy_," and she'd watched Ella's small lips drift up into a smile for her.

Her first smile, so beautiful amidst the chaos they were caught up in.

A smile that melted Clara's heart.

Jotted down into the book travelled with them, and Clara made notes about Ella's tummy time and she filled in the amounts of formula she was drinking and how much she slept. She scribbled in pencil because they weren't her firsts and Clara didn't feel right marking the book permanently when her real mother could offer up the right information. Her real mother, Clara imagined, had all of these moments documented somewhere in her own home; her real mother, Clara knew, had all of these details memorized.

"Clara," the Doctor called just as she closed the book in her palms with a sorrowful sigh. It had been sitting on her dresser in the Tardis – a dresser now half occupied by a baby girl's clothes – and she'd flipped through it with a grin. A little note about how Ella enjoyed falling asleep on her chest catching her attention and drifting her to a memory of the tiny lips parted, hot breath warming the skin above her left breast as the small hand scratched lightly at the edge of her nightgown, tugging it slightly as the Doctor chuckled.

With a shake of her head, she gripped the book in one hand and plucked a new set of clothes from a drawer and headed back towards the kitchen where the Doctor was holding Ella against his waistcoat in a new diaper, hair damp from her bath. She settled the book on the counter and took the girl up into her arms to snuggle, pressing kisses into her cheek and neck and doing a small twirl with her.

And she laughed.

A squeal of a noise into Clara's left ear that she mimicked before she shifted her back to look at the smile on the little girl's face. Ella was giggling, giggling just like Clara always did and when Clara asked, "What's so funny, pumpkin," the baby let out another loud laugh, eyes closing as she reached for Clara.

"That's a first," the Doctor chuckled and Clara gasped before reaching for the book and flipping through it because it had been a first – her first laugh and she shifted Ella against her left hip while glancing around and when the Doctor handed her the pen, she jotted down the date quickly, beginning to note that it had happened after a bath… at the sight of her… and when she finished, she stopped, eyes flooding as the Doctor asked, "What's wrong? Clara, what is it?"

Settling the pen down, she swallowed as she looked to her notes – the dark permanent ink settling itself into the paper – and smiled, responding, "That was her first laugh, Doctor. Her very first." And then she added guiltily, "And it was for me."


	43. 09 MO - Motherhood

The baby girl lying in the simple pram Clara was pushing was complaining up at her with a pitiful frown and Clara knew she was hungry. With a sad sigh, she tugged at the Doctor's sleeve as they roamed along the shops and gestured towards a restroom and he stared curiously before asking brightly, "What?" Then he raised both hands, "Oh, why didn't you just say you had to go; I'll watch her. Possibly go into a shop, one across the way has tea sets – it's never too early to learn about proper tea sele…"

Shaking her head and smiling, she reached for the little girl and then plucked her travel bag up onto her shoulder to allow, "She's hungry; I'm going to head in give her a feed and a change."

Clara could see on his face, just before she turned, he was trying to figure out what he should do in the interim, she imagined he'd still head into the tea shop and ask for samples to determine the best brew, and she was distracted by that amusing thought as she made her way into the room. Ella had perked up and was babbling in her ear, fists tugging handfuls of Clara's hair as she quickly spotted the changing table and then headed towards a set of couches, dropping Ella's bag down into the unoccupied one while trying not to look to the woman with the baby at her breast.

Sitting, she smiled down at the baby grinning up at her as she carefully removed one of the bottles she'd pre-filled with water. Clara plucked up a tube of pre-measured mix of formula and cereal powder and she turned Ella to settle her into her chest as she twisted off the bottle top to pour it in before closing and shaking it up, laughing as Ella gave a cheerful squeal of appreciation.

She was content to giggle along, until the woman on the second couch mirrored her giggle before offering honestly, "She's a beautiful little girl."

Heart frozen as she held the bottle to Ella's mouth, feeling the girl beginning to drink, Clara raised her gaze slowly and met the brown eyes across from her with a small smirk of surprise and an instant wetting of her eyes as she nodded and responded, "Thank you," before looking to the baby the other woman now lifted to her shoulder to begin burping, "She's… she's beautiful as well," Clara finished awkwardly, turning away at the amused thought she'd just complimented herself.

Because the baby the woman across from her held was herself.

And that woman was _her mother_.

"Sorry," Ellie gasped, "I didn't mean to intrude on…"

Clara raised her free hand and shook her head, "No, no, it's fine – you've done nothing," she began.

"You're crying," Ellie laughed curiously, gesturing.

"Sorry," Clara replied quickly, hand coming up to swipe at the tears on her cheeks before glancing down at Ella, because the girl was peering up at her and she smiled, dropping a kiss to her forehead to whisper, "Go on, sweetheart."

The other woman's eyes were on her and, Clara knew, she was trying to sum her up. She was trying to decipher why she'd been crying and Clara sighed before she looked up to see her eyes narrowed slightly, lips pushed together because she was chewing the inside of her cheek and she nodded to her, "It's a private room, if you need to get something off your chest," she lifted a hand towards her, "Like a confessional; though I'll admit, I'm not quite priest material."

Releasing a laugh that shocked both infants, Clara sank back into the couch with an embarrassed grimace and she shifted Ella against her, turning the bottle slightly to remind her to continue drinking, and she admitted, "Just, thinking about motherhood."

"Happens when you're a mum," Ellie told her on a small bob of her head to the left.

Clara smiled and looked to Ella, "Not quite a mum yet."

"Looks like you're doing just fine with your little girl," Ellie offered with an encouraging nod, "She adores you," she added on a laugh and Clara glanced down to find Ella smiling up at her, bubbles noisily zipping up through the milk.

With a sigh, Clara looked back to her mother and admitted, "Sort of adopted her; wasn't really planned, I mean, things could change any minute – her real mum could come looking for her and all this would be over." She smiled, "Just like that, could be over."

Her mother gave a low laugh and settled her hand at her own infant's back and told her honestly, "Adopted or not, you're her mum – not often these sorts of things are planned and things _could_ change, any minute," she shifted baby Clara back in her hands, smiling down at her with a wonder Clara hadn't seen in such a long time before the woman sighed, "Blink of an eye, she could be gone."

Clara felt her own tears drop over her cheeks as she agreed breathlessly, "Yeah."

Then the other woman smiled up at her sadly, "But that's motherhood, isn't it – worrying about your children more than yourself." She nodded to the baby she held, "That's right, Clara, one day you'll see. Everything is for you and one day everything will be for your daughter," she smirked, "Or son," she lifted the baby to nuzzle her and Clara turned her eyes to Ella, plucking the empty bottle from her lips as she listened to her mother kiss at her cheeks to elicit a small giggle.

One Ella turned to instantly before calling, "Mumma," and turning back up to her.

Ellie laughed brightly as she looked to Clara, telling her calmly, "Don't you worry, motherhood seems to suite you just fine – your daughter's the best judge of that."

"She is," Clara replied shyly with a small smile as she shifted Ella onto her shoulder to pat at her back, watching her mother do the same with the baby she held; a baby who released a small bit of gas and then began to hiccup. "Do you ever worry you're not doing right by… her?"

Standing, Ellie shrugged and moved to a spot just in front of her, giving her a familiar grin before she admitted, "_All the time_ – but do you wanna know a secret?"

Clara nodded slowly, looking up at her mother as Ella murmured in her ear.

"So long as you're doing for her, so long as you want to do right by her, _you are_ doing right by her – what my mum always said," the woman offered on a laugh before reaching out to give Clara's shoulder a squeeze that made her turn away with a nod, a laugh, and a shaky smile. "We all worry," then she nodded her chin to Ella's smile and whispered, "You're doing just fine, miss, it's obvious she loves you very much."

Ellie straightened and Clara turned back to look up at her, watching her as she adjusted her baby, smiling at her as she continued to give a small jump with each hiccup. "You're a brilliant mum," Clara told her firmly, and when the women gave her a curious smile, she added, "I can tell," gesturing at her infant self, "She loves you very much as well."

They shared another small identical grin and then Ellie departed and Clara exhaled a long breath, feeling the small cool hands that touched at her cheeks before her head knocked Clara roughly and Ella mumbled, "Mumma," and then hummed happily.

Smothering her in kisses that made her squeal happily – the same as her mum had done with her – Clara stood and went to change her before emerging to find the Doctor standing next to the pram with an uncomfortable look on his face, eyes widening as he explained, "I've just had a conversation with your father about percolation and soiled nappies."

"Percolation and soiled nappies," Clara repeated, laying Ella down in the pram and touching her cheek gently before shifting back to nod and ask, "Find any good tea? Feel as though I might need a cup right about now."

His features softened and he reached for her elbow, gripping it gently to ask, "Is everything alright?"

Bowing her head, she told him, "More than alright," she glanced up with a nod and sniffled lightly, "My mum just got to see me being a mum." Clara laughed and looked away because she could feel the tears in her eyes as she added, "She approved."

The Doctor nudged her aside and took hold of the handle on the pram and smiled, lifting his arm slightly as she chuckled so she could loop hers through his. Clara sighed as they began to walk and she glanced back towards her parents, several shops away, and she caught her mother's eye, giving her an appreciative nod that the woman returned before Ellie glanced down into her own pram. The baby girl inside with the enormous dark eyes giggled up at her mischievously, showing off a deep dimple that made her stop a moment and look back to the woman walking with the gangly strange man at her side.

She watched them converse, the movements of that other woman's body and gestures of her free hand bringing an instant laugh to her throat she stopped with a lightly whispered, "Oh, my stars."

"Ellie, everything alright?" Dave asked her, shifting to narrow his eyes in the direction she was looking.

Body twisting back playfully to smile at him, she nodded, considering a rather insane thought – something Ellie Oswald was prone to doing – before telling him confidently, "Yeah, I think it will be."


	44. 04 YR - Secrets in the Garden

She was following footprints, raggedy old doll held tightly underneath her right arm, forefinger of her left hand curled overtop her lip and teeth, head falling to the side as she dropped a foot into each step. Thin beams of light shined off the glitter embedded into the purple of her shoes and for a moment she became distracted by those bright gleams. Smiling down as they sparkled with each step and then she saw the grey bottom of a statue and raised her head, jumping backwards from it with a terrified gasp.

Her father had told her about the deadliest creatures in the universe. Creatures she should immediately hide from because, she understood, they scared him. And very little, Ella knew, scared her father. Over a thousand years old and has travelled the universe over and over again, he'd seen horrible things and he'd made sure to warn her and her mother against the worst.

"I know you," Ella said calmly, taking a tiny step back to look up immediately into the back of the stone statue in front of her, its hands raised to cover its face. "You're a Weeping Angel."

"_If you ever come across a Weeping Angel, Ella, you make sure you look it in the eye – they can't get you if you're looking_," he'd told her firmly.

"_But what if I get scared; you know I close my eyes real tight when I'm scared_," Ella had reminded, because she held her breath and closed her eyes knowing her mum or dad would pick her up and take her away from the danger – the way they always did.

"_I know, sweetheart, but this is important_," he'd lamented with a sad frown and a caress of her round face, thumb stroking her cheek in that way that always made her feel safe and loved.

"_Doctor, don't scare her at bedtime_," her mother had warned from the doorway, arms crossed at her chest as she smiled in on them.

And her father's frown deepened with some thought Ella couldn't understand as he looked from the woman back to her and nodded, repeating, "_Just remember – no matter how scared you are – you don't blink. You scream. As loud and as long as you can, you scream for us_."

"_Ok, daddy_," she'd responded, eyes closing as the man bent to kiss her forehead.

But now she simply stared, mouth hanging slightly agape, doll wedged tightly between her arm and her body and she could feel her pulse quickening. Surely her parents were nearby, she thought; surely they had figured out she'd wandered off, curiously following something strange…

Waving a hand, she asked, "_Are_ you a Weeping Angel?" Ella looked it over and when her eyes drifted back up, she gasped.

Its face had turned.

Mostly still hidden in the cupped hands held up in front of it, Ella could now see one blank eye staring down at her curiously and she took a step away, feeling the sudden dryness in her eyes as her heart hammered in her chest. "You are a Weeping Angel," she stated in a whisper, then barked, "My father is the Doctor!"

The words echoed slightly in the garden and somewhere nearby she heard a bird take flight. On any other day – in any other place – she might have turned to see what it was, but today she remained locked on the statue in front of her. A statue that remained solid, and she bent slowly to absently search the ground for something hard, picking up a rock and chucking it at the Weeping Angel. It smacked against the stone body and fell to the ground and Ella frowned down at it before lifting her head and releasing a small shout.

Its body was now facing her, arms outstretched.

And smiling.

"Mummy!" She shouted.

She stepped backwards again, carefully, keeping her eyes trained on the statue and feeling as though she might cry, but she was terrified to blink because she could remember asking a mum in a park in Jersey, as she waited for her own mum to buy her a slice of pizza off a street vendor, promising not to move, why she watched the statues.

"_Because sometimes – not often, but sometimes – they move_," the woman with the wildly bright ginger hair and the Scottish accent told her, a smile and a lifting of her brow ready for Ella when she looked up at her.

"_But how could a statue move_?" Ella had asked the woman as she cradled a small boy to her chest. "_My dad told me about moving statues once_," she allowed, "_But he never told me how they moved_."

And the woman shrugged and replied, "_Quantum locked_," before looking out at the statue again, "_Never quite understood what that meant, but it's a sort of defense mechanism_."

"_What's a defense mechanism_?" Ella questioned.

"_Well_," the woman began, but a man interrupted, a man who offered the woman a drink and a smile before he tilted his head towards Ella and whispered, "_It's what you do to keep yourself safe. Suppose she's telling you about the Weeping Angels_." Ella nodded and then man knelt, gesturing back with his head, "_So long as one of us is looking, it won't move because it's turned to stone. It's defending itself against attack 'cause how do you attack stone_?"

"_You can't_," Ella told him with a shake of her head.

The man pointed, "_Exactly_," then he glanced around, "_Aren't you missing someone, a mum or a dad or something. Amy, have you seen her mum or dad?_"

The woman nodded and told him quietly, "_At the pizza stand. Sort of did the mutual 'choosin' to trust you' head nod sort of mummy agreement I'd watch her for a minute while she got some food_." Then she bent forward to whisper something in the man's ear. Something Ella couldn't hear, but she watched the man look her over curiously before he cleared his throat.

"_You said your dad told you about the Weeping Angels_?" Ella nodded, "_Then I bet he warned you not to blink_," he laughed as she giggled, "_Why not practice, 'til your mum gets back_," he pointed, "_We'll stare, for as long as we can at that statue – which is not, by the way, a Weeping Angel. Amy's just tryin' to scare you because she's like that sometimes_," he yelped when she kicked his backside, "_Let's watch the statue and see who blinks first_."

"_No cheating_," Ella asserted on a nod.

"_No cheating,_" the man repeated.

She wished that man were there now, ready with his goofy smile and his kind eyes. Eyes that managed to cry before they blinked, after she'd giggled that she'd given up. Just as her mother had arrived with a quiet, "_Let's go find your father. See if he's found the friends he's looking for_," and Ella had waved at the couple now tending to their baby and giving her the oddest grins as she walked beside her mum.

Now her eyes burned in a way she hadn't allowed that day. In a way that brought tears to their rims and she lifted her doll slightly, holding it face down against her chest to try to ignore the surges of cold she was feeling. Ella's eyes trembled and then they closed tightly, sending droplets over her warm cheeks and when she opened her eyes, she screamed because its face had changed. It now held a scream of its own, frozen in silence, and the fingers that once lay calmly at its sides were raised above its head as claws.

"_DADDY_!"

She turned her doll to hold it tightly, taking another step back and feeling the solid tree behind her as she shouted out, thinking maybe she'd hit another Angel, but she could feel the bark rubbing through her dress as she screamed for her parents. Ella didn't blink, she trembled entirely and between her cries for her parents, her mouth shook wetly. And then the terror became too much and she lifted her doll to cover her face as she fell to the ground against the tree, knees coming up swiftly into her chest.

For a moment there was complete silence apart from her sobs, a silence that made her wonder if it had gotten her. _Could death be so painless_, she considered, but then she heard the quick shuffle of feet and her father called out quickly, "_Don't take your eyes off it, Clara_!"

"Doctor, is she there, _please tell me she's there_," her mother cried, voice wavering with tears.

The footsteps grew closer, but she was too scared to look; too scared to see the monster in front of her, and she heard her father whisper, "The _doll_."

"Doctor is she ok? _Please, please tell me she's ok_."

"Clara, she's here, she's ok," he turned to say, bending closer and whispering, "Ella, you're alright. Look at me, Ella."

Shaking her head, she reached up and the Doctor lifted her into his arms, plucking the doll away a stabbing its chest through with a broken branch before Ella felt herself running. She sobbed openly now, into the shoulder of a man whose breaths she could hear just behind her. She heard the familiar humming of the Tardis and the clanks of two sets of feet rushing over metal and then she felt her mother's hands rounding her sides and she turned towards her, legs and arms wrapping around her desperately as they moved into the vortex.

"The doll was looking," her father said quietly, "The doll," he uttered and Ella could hear the terror in his voice knowing if she hadn't turned it around, if she hadn't faced those fake eyes upon the statue, it would have taken her.

"Ella," her mother whispered, kissing her cheek three times before saying, "Ella, please look at me."

"I tried not to blink," Ella cried.

Her mother laughed, "I know, sweetheart, but I need you to look at me."

"I'm too scared."

She brushed a hand over her hair and kissed her forehead, whispering, "It's alright, _my stars_, it's alright." Ella could feel her breathing normalizing as her mother rocked her along the console, every so often dropping a kiss to her face and assuring her she was safe. She could hear the Sonic's buzz near her ear and her father sighed before her mother began moving again.

Ella knew the path to her bedroom, but she gripped her mother tightly, "No, don't leave me in my room alone," she moaned.

Laughing lightly, her mother turned just before the room and Ella felt them drop onto her parents bed and a moment later she heard another creak and then they were dropping back. She could tell she was lying between them and she could feel two sets of lips at either side of her head as two set of hands landed atop her – her mother's at her cheek, her father's at her shoulder. She laid quietly for a moment before blinking up at her mother, watching the smile that warmed the woman's face, and then she turned to see the worry in her father's eyes.

"That was a Weeping Angel, wasn't it, daddy," she whispered.

He kissed her forehead and laughed through tears, "Yeah, Ella, it was."

"It almost got me, didn't it," she breathed.

He reached for her, tugging her into his arms. For a moment she wasn't sure why he was holding her as hard as he was – he'd never done so before. But then she felt his hearts. Her father's hearts were pounding harder than she'd ever felt them and she knew he'd been afraid. More afraid than he'd ever been and she gripped to him tightly as he whispered, "Yeah, it almost did."


	45. 04 YR - Quite a Pair

Ella was balancing a block precariously atop a pile, tongue firmly tucked into the corner of her mouth, brow knotted in concentration, eyes giving Eric a small glance to see him nodding slowly. Taking a breath, she released the block and took a quick step back, cringing because she expected it to collapse, but it didn't. A single lined tower that stood a foot taller than herself remained between her and the boy who gave a hop and squealed.

"That's tallest!" Eric exclaimed, carefully making his way around it to stand at her side. "Ella, that's the tallest ever."

Looking around, she argued, "If we could get a stool, we could make it even taller."

"Ah, no, you two…" came the worried voice of one of the attendants, "Something like this comes down on your head and you'll be smartin' and I'll be hearin' from your parents."

Ella frowned as the woman began to pluck blocks off the top into her arms before she scattered them on the ground and pointed at them as a warning while Ella mumbled, "But it was tallest!"

"That it was, and I'm impressed Ella – don't think I'm not, but it's dangerous." She eyed her, "You do understand what dangerous is?"

Snorting, Ella gestured, "Blocks are not dangerous…" and her mouth closed tightly, lips pinched inwards as her eyebrows rose because she knew she couldn't tell the woman that being cornered by a Dalek or a Weeping Angel or a Slitheen was much more dangerous than a pile of blocks. So she reached for Eric's hand and pulled him towards the buckets of trucks and dolls so they could continue playing.

"You should tell them what real danger is," Eric whispered.

"I told you that's a secret," Ella hissed.

He shrugged, "Told me."

"You're my friend," she responded with a roll of her eyes, and then a smile in his direction. Because Eric wasn't like the other children at the daycare. He noticed the oddities in her stories and he asked about them. He was her very best friend.

"_Look at those two, it's unfortunate they'll be heading to different primary schools soon. Clara's already registered Ella_…"

The words stopped the truck in her hand from hitting Eric's and she shook her head slightly. They hadn't talked about changing schools. She looked at the boy who shrugged down at the toys and continued to swing his around and she asked quietly, "Eric, am I your best friend?"

He straightened, large smile brightening his pale face, "Of course you are, Ella."

Standing, she gestured to the back door that lead to the playground, "Then we have to run away."

Stopping just outside, he shook his head and argued, "We can't run away, Ella, it's almost nap time."

Frowning, she told him, "We're going to different schools soon."

"We won't see each other," he realized. Then he took a long breath and reached out a hand for hers and glanced at the attendants in the yard, telling her quietly, "We can probably get out of the side."

They nodded, giggling together, and rushed towards the gate on the side, Ella climbing on Eric's back to reach over and undo the latch before they began walking calmly down the sidewalk, neither saying much, simply chuckling nervously as they made their way through the small streets towards a park around the corner they both knew about. They would sit down and talk about what they would do when they got there – that was the agreement they made before they began to chat about the shapes in the clouds.

* * *

><p>Clara had a hand clutched to her chest as they materialized around the two children several hours later and she exhaled a terrified breath to see them lying together in a pile, their small faces as still as their bodies. Without looking away from Ella, she asked in a quiet voice, "Doctor, are they…"<p>

"Sleeping," he assured, moving to land his hands at her shoulders to rub at them, feeling the tension of receiving the call from the daycare that her daughter had gone missing. "Can't escape the _dreaded_ nap."

She managed a laugh before she moved closer to them to kneel down and give them both a gentle shake, smiling when Ella shook her head and then opened her eyes, looking around herself curiously. "How did we get in the Tardis?" She asked.

"Ella," Clara stated firmly, lips dropping into a disappointed frown the Doctor could see was sending Ella's lips into a pout of understanding. "Mummy has been worried sick wondering where you are." Then she gestured, "And so have Eric's parents."

The girl stood and bowed her head, "I'm sorry."

"Why would you do that? You know you're not supposed to leave the daycare," she told her, head tilting sadly, because she knew her daughter had always been smart enough to figure out how to leave and they'd discussed why it was dangerous.

Looking to Eric, Ella explained, "We're going to different schools next term, aren't we."

Clara's head came up and she took a breath before admitting, "Yes, I believe you are."

"He's my boy friend," she complained.

"Your what?" The Doctor asked from the console as he set them down near the school.

"He's my very best friend," Ella cried quietly.

Pointing, the Doctor asked, "What do you mean your _boyfriend_?"

Clara turned, "_Really_, Doctor," before looking to Ella to nod, "Does it really mean that much to you, to stay in the same school as your friend?"

She nodded slowly as Clara reached for her hands and sighed.

"Maybe I could make a change…" she began, but Ella was already launching herself at her neck, arms wrapping around her tightly.

"But seriously, a boyfriend – _she's not even five_," the Doctor groaned.

Clara cradled Ella against her, kissing her temple as she listened to the little girl repeatedly thank her before she looked to the boy now staring up at the console with the widest eyes Clara had ever seen. They shifted slightly, to the Doctor and then he sat up quickly, dark hair standing on end as he asked loudly, "Is this the Tardis!?"

"_How are you her boyfriend_?" The Doctor shot back.

Eric wrinkled his nose and replied, "I'm a _boy_, and I'm her _friend_." He looked to Clara, "That's not what a boyfriend is, Ms. Smith?"

Looking from the Doctor to the boy watching her, Clara smiled and nodded, "That is exactly what a friend, _who happens to be a boy_, is."

Ella whispered into her ear and Clara laughed.

"Don't…" Clara replied quietly with a shake of her head, "Tell your father."

Pushing himself up, Eric moved towards the Doctor and peeked over the edge of the console before staring up at the man curiously peering down at him and he assured, "I know this is a secret, sir."

"A very _important_ secret," the Doctor nodded, bending slightly to add, "Not very many people know about this place – _can I trust you_?"

Nodding vigorously, Eric asserted, "Oh yes, yes sir. I keep Ella's secrets," he turned and smirked at the little girl now being lifted up into the air, "All of them."

"_All of them_," the Doctor whined, "There are secrets, _already_?"

Clara laughed.

"She's four and a half!"

Settling a hand against Eric's head, Clara brushed her fingers through it and nodded to the doors, "Come on, your mum and dad are waiting at the school."

"Oi," the Doctor shouted as they made their way to the door. He toggled a finger between the children and grunted, "No more running away, you two."

They both shook their heads and he pushed off the console, walking towards them to pull Eric up onto his hip as the boy smiled at him and asked, "Could we have an adventure in your Tardis?"

The Doctor looked to Clara, to the pouted lips and the small shake of her head, and he sighed to Eric, poking his chest and then tapping his chin with his knuckle, "Not quite yet, but when you're older – if you keep this a secret and," he lowered his voice to whisper, "If you keep an eye on Ella so she's safe in school," he watched Eric nod, "When you're older we'll have adventures. Sound like a plan?"

"A good plan," Eric whispered back with a devious smirk just before they stepped out and the boy squealed, "We're in a cupboard!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and called, "Of course we're in a cupboard – can't just land the Tardis in the middle of your classroom, can I? Wouldn't be a very well kept secret if I did that, would it!"

Clara pushed the door open, listening to the giggling at her shoulder, mirrored by the boy behind her. She knew it wouldn't take much to change Ella's registration, but she also knew she might be in for some interesting days ahead because the girl leaning against her had told her a secret. One the Doctor wouldn't like to hear. Ella knew very well what the difference between a boy friend and a boyfriend was and she'd whispered in her ear that she loved the little boy now commenting on the Doctor's bow tie.

A boy, she knew with a sly grin, who would be snogging their daughter in thirteen short years.


End file.
